


Those Piercing Eyes of Red

by Adora



Category: Free!
Genre: Anal Sex, Drama, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Implied/Referenced Drug Use, Implied/Referenced Incest, M/M, Oral Sex, Psychological Torture, Rape/Non-con Elements, Romance, Violence, Yaoi, ringou - Freeform, rinharu - Freeform, sougou, sourin
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-11
Updated: 2016-01-21
Packaged: 2018-04-20 07:31:11
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 7
Words: 28,938
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4778831
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Adora/pseuds/Adora
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A girl taken hostage for her brother's crimes. A captor seesawing between lust and loyalty. A merciless brother seeking revenge.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. "...and crimson was his hair"

**Author's Note:**

> This is an AU fic that contains elements of violence and non-consensual sex, as well as mild references of incest and yaoi. So, please, be warned. Some of the characters might seem more cruel than they actually are, but everything is written along the needs of this story. It will primarily be a Sousuke/Gou fic , and on a second level RinGou (and everything else tagged). For now it is set to finish in 5 chapters.

****  
  
1  
_..and crimson was his hair  
_

* * *

**Night**  
  
They came at night. They climbed over the wired fences and crawled their way into the abandoned facility. Patiently, they slithered along the drains, the moist earth cracking their bones. Black boots smeared with mud , knuckles almost numb from cold , solemn faces silently stealing through darkness. Somewhere far, a dog's mournful bay ripped the murk apart.  
  
“Any minute now”  
  
Something was stirring the shadows on the threadbare walls. They waited motionless behind a rusty trailer as the shady figure approaching slowly transformed into a male silhouette. Hiding away from the sickly yellow light poured by the obsolete poles, his once blonde curls appeared pitch black as he swiftly slid through that graveyard of structures.  
  
“There he is, Rin-senpai”  
  
A couple of heads nodded in acknowledgement when the young intruder finally came to a halt before them. Rin stepped in front of them, his lips forming a rigid line as he watched intensely his shorter companion.  
  
“There's a small building next to the warehouse, just as we thought. Looks like an old outpost. Only one of them is guarding the cell. There are a few more overseeing the main gates, no one's at the back but it's almost impossible to sneak in, the walls separating the place from the woods are massive.”  
  
The redhead grabbed him by the shoulders tightly and rivers of crimson bored into the younger lad's eyes.  
  
“Did you see her?”  
  
He shook his head negatively, shattering the expectations that had awaken on Rin's face. The taller male shut his eyes momentarily and let go of his shoulders.  
  
“Rei, are we sure they're keeping her there?”  
  
The man called Rei steadied his red glasses and looked back at him with a light smirk.  
  
“According to my calculations, her cell is in the outpost Nagisa-kun just described. Having studied Samezuka's headquarters' plans, there's nowhere else she could be. I'm rarely wrong, senpai.”  
  
Rin's relentless gaze bounced among his nakama. Without any objection, they had followed him from the get-go into this ride of frenzy he had embarked against his old gang. Clothes soaked in dirt, bodies bent under the load of sleepless nights, and yet, here they stood, ready to risk their lives in his name. In the end, he breathed out, signing his determination.  
  
“Any patrols?”  
  
“None. Most of them are asleep.”  
  
“Very well. Nagisa, you'll stay put here and cover our backs. Any suspicious movement you see, any alarming sound you hear, rush and warn us.”  
  
“Aye, Rin-chan”  
  
“We'll continue along the drains, to keep away from the guards at the main entrance. If there are no patrols, we should reach the warehouse without any problem. From there, we take the stairs to the outpost. The guard..”  
  
“Guy wearing a full-face hood, he also seemed asleep.”  
  
“He should be no problem,then. Either way it will be the four of us, we can disarm him easily. Knowing what kind of bastards they are, they probably keep her locked or in chains. Makoto?”  
  
“Piece of cake, Rin.” Next to him, a tall, sturdy man cracked a reassuring smile and patted lovingly a medium, military sack hanging from his shoulder. For a few precious seconds, the dreary clouds faded away, and as the moonlight shed its weak , silver beams on them, Makoto's emerald eyes sparkled eerily through the mist. “There are neither chains, nor bars in this world that my tools can't smash open.”  
  
The redhead nodded content.  
  
“Haru, Rei. No guns this time. We want to keep this as low as possible. Gou is out there hanging on dear life, exhausted and hell knows what else. Our priority is her safety, we can't risk a gunshot or any other spunk that will give away our presence. However...”  
  
Rin faltered. For the first time he realised he was about to ask from them the impossible. He was ready to demand his comrades washed their hands in blood and , in his mind, he held no remorse for this. Because everything and everyone paled when compared to her. All in his sister's name.  
  
“..if we get discovered....if by any chance things don't go as planned...”  
  
Suddenly, he felt a steady hand on his right arm, clenching him lightly. He looked up at Haruka's cold-blooded face and his fiery crimson met that endless and haunting sea of blue, sometimes turbulent, but this night dead calm, the one familiar shelter in his life.  
  
“Rin.” Haruka's emotionless voice flowed into the air, as his other hand caressed a pair of sharp blades attached to his belt, two lethal allies that had granted him a notorious name among the gangs.  
  
“Don't worry. No one will come out alive to tell”  
  
Ten minutes later, they emerged quietly behind the desolate warehouse. Nagisa had been right; no wandering soul had cut their way. Most of the Samezuka members had surrendered into deep slumber, totally oblivious to what Fate had conspired for them. Arrogant and disdainful as most of them were, they probably underestimated the Iwatobi boys for a bunch of fainthearts that would never dare such a perilous plan. It had been almost a month, after all, and they expected Rin to eventually knock on their door hat in hand and exchange his pride for his sister's life. Everyone knew the male Matsuoka had one and only weakness. Everyone wished that weakness would sound the end of him.  
  
As they reached the dimly lit outpost, Rin's heart started its own erratic dance within his chest's folds. Could she have been there all along? Locked behind those hostile walls, imprisoned in the wet cell destined for him? The small building seemed so quiet , unearthly beautiful under the wan light showering that decayed place. Mold had swallowed the wooden stairs leading up to the one and only floor of the outpost, and the two windows that once decorated its front , were hermetically sealed with planks and bricks, recording a lifetime that had long now been dust in the wind. A rust-covered door was hanging open and the faint light in the room where the guard was sleeping, was leaking into the darkness outside in lemon streams. With Rin in the lead and ready more than ever, they slowly ascended to the outpost's porch, ropes and iron bars firmly clenched in their hands.  
  
The moment he stepped on that staircase, Haru knew something was not right. He could somehow sense it in the bleak wind, he could somehow smell it in the damp soil. His eyes scanned their silent surroundings, unable to distinguish the discord within the night's symphony.  
  
“Something is off” he whispered to himself and took another step closer to his comrades. His gaze wandered on the ruined walls, the strangely lit office, the tensed back muscles of his friends, the lack of sounds in the air. The lack of any sounds in the air. Sounds that an unaware human being, even if asleep, would definitely emit. His azure eyes widened as realization kicked in.  
  
“Rin, wait, it's a trap!”  
  
Haruka never managed to finish his warning, as a huge shadow surfaced from the blackness and came crashing on Rin. The redhead got startled and before managing to react, a solid punch landed on his jaw, gashing his lips and sending him reeling backwards to Rei, who, stunned by the raw force, tripped down the stairs.  
  
“Shit, the guard was never asleep” Haruka spat and dived for the hooded man's legs, to avoid any direct hit from him. Makoto latched onto his arm and, even though the Samezuka member looked quite robust, the olive haired man was a sizeable Titan himself. Blocking the man's attack, he used his body weight and, together with Haru , they struggled to drag him back inside the office. Until they noticed the gun glistening in his free hand, its barrel aiming at the blood stained shark in front of him.  
  
“Mako, he has a gun!”  
  
Makoto shifted his weight and tried in vain to get a hold of the weapon, but , suddenly, the man grew rigid in his arms, momentarily hesitating to shoot. Haru craned his neck, looking up, and for a second a delusion poisoned his vision; the guard had made a slight move , as if lowering his arm. And then he heard a subtle clasp on his belt and felt an intrusive hand shamelessly depriving him of something dear. But it was too late, already; with the blade extended menacingly, a rabid Rin lunged at the guard.  
  
He wasn't a murderer, really. In his short life, Rin Matsuoka had been a lot of things, half of them things neither himself was proud of. He had been hanging out with the wrong people ever since his father's death. He had conned a few of them more than once, but he had always entertained men's foolishness. He had taken part in three or four robberies , held out by the infamous “Samezuka swimmers”, at a time he needed the money. And continued even when he didn't need it anymore, but hey, he was fast with his hands, and witty, and he would always tell a good joke at the end of a “job”. He had sent a dozen of manliness-reeking stooges to the hospital. But he had been nursed himself there often too, so in his code of honour they had been even. He had smoked weed – and for a while had passed around some too – but he quickly got bored of it, besides he was capable of finding mad fun without any substitutes. He had been drunk. Boy, he had been drunk a lot. And he always remembered the next morning, both a gift and a curse, depending on the previous night. During his heavy-on-booze days , and even more during his sober ones, he had slept around a lot, breaking several female hearts in the process. And a few male ones, as well. He was never too picky when mating, since almost everyone craved a piece of him. Besides, it had always been funny seeing the weaklings begging. Arguably, he had been a bad role model for his younger sister. He had taught her a few things a brother shouldn't have. His sleep had never been peaceful cause of that. And, eventually, he had fallen in love. He had fallen madly in love and betrayed his Samezuka brothers, and rushed away, into the unknown of the neverending, blue sea...But he was never a murderer.  
  
Until that night. Because as Rin fell down, dazed and confused by the painful sting on his jaw, warm blood running down his lips , its bold taste mingling with bitter dirt inside his mouth, his eyes caught a glimpse of a sight that even his worst nightmares showed pity on him and never revealed; at the back of the office, inside a narrow cell, a frail and abused female body was curled up on the chilled floor.  
  
He snapped.  
  
Fog enveloped him away from whatever was happening around him. Invisible nails kept hammering his temples, as if the pain he had inflicted upon others all his life, had just grown out of proportions and had come to haunt him. He could taste blood, both tangy and sweet, but it wasn't enough. Because an inexplicable primal instinct flooded his veins, he had to see the blood, he had to bathe in all its scarlet glory. So his sister would rise up and get avenged, so the pain would stop clenching him like vice, so the unholy voice of his father , echoing _“you had one job to protect her, one damn job”_ would silence one and for good. He didn't see anything within this fog. All he saw were Haru's blades. Shimmering below the moonlight aura, as the sky chased the clouds away for the second time that night.  
  
The fine steel tore the fabric and ripped the soft chest underneath so delicately. It seemed almost scandalous how easy it was after all. To shred the skin. To split the flesh. To breach the heart. The man's eyes froze in shock. He clutched on his slayer's leather jacket and his fingertips grazed his silky, crimson hair. The caress was almost tender. Like love. A muffled sound escaped his mouth, thoughts in agony that never earned the shape of words.  
  
To cut the string of life. To kill.  
  
The guard's body slid on the ground, suddenly heavier than a sack full of stones and Rin followed. Again and again he drilled the blade into the lifeless body in his arms, pleading proudly guilty of the last of all sins, guilty of invincible rage. The blood kept gushing out , red streams of wine, tainting his clothes, his hands...  
  
“Rin...Rin...”  
  
..tainting his soul, pooling around them...  
  
“Rin! Makoto grab him, damnit. Makoto! Snap out of it!”  
  
“This is not good, Haru-senpai. Not good!”  
  
With a face bleached due to his own fear, Makoto seized Rin's arms and captured him in his strong embrace. Rin's body shuddered and , waking up from his delirium, he dropped the blade as if a scorpion just stung his hand.  
  
“What are we going to do, Haru-senpai? Did they hear us? They might be on their way now. This is not good. Not beautiful.”  
  
“Shut up, Rei, you aren't helping! Grab him by the legs , let's pull him inside.”  
  
Haruka and Rei dragged the body closer to the office's entrance, all the while tossing glances around them , making sure no one sees them and all hell brakes loose. Makoto helped Rin stand on his feet and , upon noticing his badly beaten face, asked with concern if he felt ok. Rin stared at him and blinked bewildered for a second, but, suddenly, his memory spun back into motion and his eyes searched frantically for his sister.  
  
“Let go of me! Gou!”  
  
He staggered into the office and, as the cell's door wasn't locked, he eagerly pushed the bars back and was soon on his knees, by Gou's side. To say that her state was bad, would be an understatement. The floral dress he had once gifted her as a birthday present , was nothing more than filthy rugs and shreds. Various purple bruises, both old and fresh ones, were covering her otherwise pearly body. Her hair was loose and seemed still damp from a recent shower, which made Rin only cringe at the thought of the depraved tortures she might have been forced into. With sobs sticking up his throat and tears pooling inside his eyes, he gathered her almost ritually inside his trembling arms and shook her fragile body with care.  
  
“Gou...please...wake up...”  
  
The rest three Iwatobi males stood silent behind him, their own hearts straining at the miserable sight before them. Rin gently tugged his sister's burgundy bangs behind her ear and nuzzled her soft forehead with his furrowed lips. He shut his eyes tightly and slowly rocked back and forth in despair.  
  
“Please baby...onii-chan is here...”  
  
A light stir in his arms. A weak quiver of eyelids. A timid touch on his fingers.  
  
“The car...”  
  
His heart sank.  
  
“Gou? Thank God...You'll be alright, baby. Gou.”  
  
“The car, is it...here yet..?..”  
  
She looked disoriented. Her voice came out in pants and her focus seemed unstable.  
  
“What car, Gou? It's me, your brother. I am here now, everything's gonna be fine.”  
  
Her pupils dilated and her small lips formed a painful smile of relief as she suddenly recognized him.  
  
“Onii-chan!...I knew it....I knew you'd come”  
  
With whatever strength she had left, she tightened her delicate arms around him and held him dearly. Rin buried his face in the velvet crook of her neck and inhaled her unique fragrance that , despite her torments and the bad state she was in, had remained unaltered. Exactly how he always remembered and cherished it. She kept whispering to him her gratitude, and he would have broken down wailing right then and there, crashed by the Furies trailing after him, if it hadn't been for his friends reminding him they had to leave as soon as possible.  
  
“Rin , leave Gou to me. “ Makoto offered calmly “I'll carry her out.”  
  
“Never.” Rin narrowed his eyes on his athletic friend and , instinctively, hugged Gou more securely.  
  
“You are wounded, it's really better if I..”  
  
“I'm fine.”  
  
“Rin, your face looks struck by a juggernaut and your body is a bloody mess.” Haruka's deadpan voice interrupted them “You're not even in a position to carry your own self”  
  
Makoto sighed at Haru's bluntness.  
  
“Really, Rin. Just let me help.”  
  
Eventually, Makoto lifted a tired and half asleep Gou into the warmth of his broad chest, but only after the young girl reassured her brother that she was fine with it and perhaps it would be better for them that way. She squeezed his hand longingly, called him “her only knight”, exactly like when they were kids, and, frankly, that was all Rin ever needed to hear.  
  
At that moment, he did not care he had just sacrificed a life at the mercy of his sister's altar. He did not care the scar on his face was dripping hot blood still, nor that he had probably lost for good a couple of his popular shark teeth. He did not care when Rei wondered why Gou looked as if she was seeking something anxiously before she delved back into slumber. He did not care that , while his companions were getting ready to flee that cursed place before anyone else tracked them down, a disturbed figure that looked like Nagisa was running their way, waving his hands in the air, desperately trying to warn them about something that would now remain untold.  
  
Rin did not care about any of these. All it mattered was that, that night, he had slaughtered the beast. He had saved the maiden. He had conquered back his old castle. His father's voice would leave him alone for a while. Or so he hoped.

* * *

Thanks for reading. Reviews are appreciated. 2nd chapter will be on its way...


	2. "...and crimson was the moon"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A girl taken hostage for her brother's crimes. A captor seesawing between lust and loyalty. A merciless brother seeking revenge.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please be aware there is non-con sex in this chapter, as well as mild yaoi/incest references. Also, I'm really sorry for the way Seijuurou is written, but it fits the needs of this story (plus I love him no matter what).

**2  
** _...and crimson was the moon **  
  
**_

* * *

**  
  
Three Weeks Earlier  
  
  
** The iron bed was manically creaking under the weight of their writhing bodies. Headboard slamming rhythmically against the wall in protest, soaked in sweat mattress squeaking with every push , everything betrayed the reckless coupling of an endless lovemaking. It wasn't love though. Gou's wrists were locked behind her back as Seijuurou thrust into her with wild abandon. They would be bruised once he was done with her, but at least she had stopped being handcuffed or even chained on the metal frame, like the first days of her captivity. Those times any obscene bed noises were getting drowned within her cries and pleas. The objections had been to no avail of course. Her captors would laugh at her attempts to break free and avert their eyes at the sight of her bawling face. And as their captain would take his time and violate her every night, they would casually gather around the bonfire and place bets on her ordeal; if she would cry loud enough, what position she was being taken in, or even how long it would be until she finally broke down. Gou hadn't granted them that favour though.  
  
In a fragmentary manifestation of Stockholm's syndrome, she had integrated with them. Her emotional and physical torture would be a part of their daily routine, but she had gained some  twisted idea of personal space. Seijuurou was already treating her like his personal pet, the one he had exclusively rights on, rather than his gang's unfortunate hostage. Even the rough sex had started feeling tolerable. There was a calendar sheet pinned on the wall , torn and coffee stained, forever forgotten on a careless July. Its illustration was depicting a young girl watching a harmless shark through the glass of an aquarium. She had found focusing on that image throughout the torturous nights to be her only salvation. She would spend those hectic moments that crawled in time , just staring at it without a blink. And as her body would be pushed harder and harder against the lumpy mattress, her mind would drift away. It would escape the dim room , far away into the endless ultramarine of the aquarium.  
  
Seijuurou lifted violently her right leg and locked her calf around his waist, making her back arch to meet his impeding climax. He pulled all the way out, before driving into her again with one brutal and sharp thrust. It was always painful like this when he came, big and insatiable as he was. Gou bit stubbornly her lower lip to muffle any embarrassing sob, and a single drop of blood slid her porcelain jaw before dripping on the pillow before her. On top of the brown blood stains from the previous night. And the night before that.  
  
"Tough girl"  
  
The copper haired captain relaxed his weight on Gou's back and brushed her damp mane aside. His hot tongue trailed a wet path on her soft nape , tasting the beads of sweat he found there. Gou's body shuddered. There was a time she would have agreed to date this man.  
  
"You think I can't chew out a moan from you anymore? You think you can dig in enough?"  
  
When Gou didn't care for a reply, Seijuurou yanked her, still firmly tied behind her back, wrists in one abrupt move. Her eyes fell shut and a barely audible whimper escaped her rosy lips. He chuckled and gave her a quick peck on her cheek.  
  
"That's my babe."  
  
Content with himself, he set her free from his tight grip and lazily headed towards the nearby bathroom.  
  
"I'm gonna have a quick shower" his whistling voice flowed over the running water "Make sure you are ready when I'm done."  
  
Gou remained still on the rusty bed for several minutes. Her body had stiffened under the emotional numbness, and her limbs hanged there lifeless and heavy like logs. From somewhere far, Seijuurou's tune came tootling around the caverns of her mind. It upset her insides. Slowly, she dragged her burdensome feet away from the bed and slipped into the short, red robe she had been given to wear when around Samezuka's leader. A lonely, vintage mirror, with countless fingermarks on its glossy surface, was hanging at the other side of the chamber, above a shabby boudoir. Both generous gifts at her disposal, so she would keep herself pretty for his eyes only. She proceeded to unconsciously comb her burgundy hair, the soft brush gently going through it and disentangling the knots that lay within. Her gaze was blank though, for her mind had already fluttered about in the night's breeze.  
  
It had been more than a week since her fateful kidnapping. Since they had ruthlessly grabbed her in the middle of an alley, with a small sack dangling from her shoulder and a ticket clenched through trembling fingers. More than a week since they had brought her to this junkyard and had shielded her away from the world known to her. It had been a gloomy morning , with the clouds hanging low and the chilling wind shivering the skin. The rapes had begun the same night. To believe that she had once considered them her allies, that she had once been resident in the block of flats Samezuka men kept their wives, their families and everyone dear to them, could only be an absurd fairy tale. But she had been there. For years she had stayed there, a solid beacon to her brother's risky business with the fearsome gang.  
  
Rin.  
  
The man to blame for ending up a hostage, was the same one to thank for not falling apart, for not breaking during this trip to Hell. His thought instilled hope. She knew he would come for her. Whether it would be at the peak of a blazing noun, or through the shadows of a starry night, Rin would show up and sweep her off her feet, leading her away from this slavery. He would come. She knew he would. And she would stay strong for as long as he needed , she would patiently wait for him to prepare his plans for the right moment , she would absorb the pain and harden her skin with every bruise. Perhaps her brother was already coming to her salvation. Perhaps he was already outside those gates, laughing as he was creeping in. Perhaps.  
  
Gou trusted Rin with her life. Even though they had rubbed the truth against her face many times, even though she had been told again and again she was paying for her brother's betrayal, the young girl wasn't holding the slightest grudge against him.  He had been there for her when their father passed away so unexpectedly, a steady figure for her miniature self to tag along. He had been there, putting his body as a shining shield, whenever their mother, unable to bear reality anymore, would succumb to alcohol and repent herself by beating them. He had always been there, supporting both of them through their teenhood with the money he was making, even if that meant breaking the law. Hence, when the time came, she never regretted giving her virginity to him in the spur of a twisted moment. And if she had to relive the events of the past month, she would wholeheartedly help him all over again, she would assist him in bursting out of Samezuka, bringing down everyone and everything in the process in a chaotic whirlwind. Just like he had already done. Somehow , she could still hear that creaking noise of drawers , anxiously opening and closing through her sleep...  
  
_Gou blinked in the dark. She had heard the odd thuds coming from the small cabinet in the narrow hallway twice while asleep, but she had brushed them off as games of her drowsy imagination. The noises were clearer now though, she was sure that someone was fervently rummaging through her drawers. She gulped. The idea of an intruder in her small flat in the dead of night made her hair standing on end. The security around the building was almost impossible to circumvent, Samezuka members weren't toying with the safety of their beloved ones. This thought only made the worry in her heart claw deeper, as it could only mean her uninvited visitor had somehow managed to overpower any young mobster on his way there. In the end, Gou bravely approached her bedroom's door , clenching the .38 Special revolver she usually hid below her pillow for any lamentable encounter.  
  
But when she abruptly swung the door open, hoping to surprise whoever stood behind it with the menacing barrel of her gun, she stumbled on a sight she least expected; there he was, crumbling on his knees, the hound she had for a brother. A disarray of scattered clothes, used books and papers, little souvenirs and various, other nothings was spinning around him. But the despair furrowing Rin's face nearly melt her heart._  
  
_"Gou! Get back inside" his tone was commanding, after the initial confusion.  
  
Gou took in his frantic motions, the dirt on his shirt and the redness under his eyes. One glance was enough to realise her brother much needed the help he was rejecting. Without asking further questions, she went to her front door , peeped at the obscured corridor to ensure no one had awoken from the shadows, and, immediately after, locked the door behind her. Whatever it was that he needed, she would offer him her services.  
  
"Damnit, Gou, why you never listen?"  
  
She dropped on her knees beside him and started blindly searching her drawers for whatever lost treasure she was apparently hiding. Rin hissed.  
  
"What are we searching for?"  
  
"Just get back in there, what's hard to get?"  
  
"Too late for that, nii-chan! What are you..."  
  
"Morphine! Ok? Freaking morphine. I know it was here, somewhere."  
  
Gou's mouth formed a perfect circle of shock. Her hands grabbed fistfuls of his shirt, looking for any grim evidence of pain.  
  
"Morphine? Oh God, are you hurt?"  
  
"Stop it, I'm fine. Fine!" he barked as he violently detached himself  from her anxious grip , "I just need that stupid drug immediately. Shit!"  
  
"It's not here, wait."_  
  
_Gou vanished in the dimness of her bedroom and returned two seconds later, holding two small vials.  
  
"This...is all it's left..."  
  
It was Rin's turn to widen his ruby eyes.  
  
"What the fuck, you've been snorting this shit?"  
  
Gou lowered her head, lips quivering as any feeble excuses wouldn't get past them.  
  
"Damn, I can't deal with this right now" Rin ran a hand over his head in misery "Just hand them over to me."  
  
"Show me."_  
  
_They locked eyes for a moment, unspoken words being exchanged between them, her determination soothing his insecurity. And then, swiftly, he turned around and burst into the bathroom. Gou tailed after him only to make soon the grim discovery. In her bathroom, in her very own tub, the suffering body of a familiar face was lying broken, drenched in blood.  
  
"Ha..Haru?"  
  
Through half lidded eyes, the Iwatobi ace nodded lightly. His condition was a wreck though. Mud was smeared all over his clothes and a fresh wound was oozing hot blood right above his knee. His white shirt was hanging open and multiple red bruises were blotching his sides, betraying the presence of a few broken ribs. His face was strangely serene but a darker shade of azure was shadowing his once crystal blue orbs , revealing the agony within. Rin put aside the pills and kept the vial containing the powerful drug in its liquid form. Foraging madly in a medical kit discarded at his feet, he fished out a syringe.  
  
"Don't just stand there like a log, tighten up the cloth around his thigh" he pointed at the checkered piece of fabric clumsily tied around Haruka's leg. Only then Gou noticed how her brother's favourite shirt was ripped apart at its endings.  
  
"We need to stop the bleeding. I managed to take the bullet out but he almost passed out on me. I have to stitch it up but he won't hold off without the drug."  
  
"Just...open the tap...fill the tub with...water" Haru whispered calmly though he was clearly heaving through his lungs.  
  
"You were shot, you asshole!! Got it? You were fucking shot! Soaking yourself in water won't fix your damn leg!"  
  
Gou dipped a towel in water and gently wiped the anguish away from Haruka's face.  
  
"Thank you"  
  
Through murmurs and curses, Rin drenched the wound in disinfectant solution and kept fumbling with the needle. But his hands kept shaking , as his inner turmoil spread its webs on every little nerve of his body.  
  
"Gou...take your brother out..."  
  
"You shut up"  
  
"Onii-chan, let the stitching to me."  
  
"No, I've got this. Fuck this needle!"  
  
"Please, onii-chan keep your voice lower. These walls have ears. And let me do this, last time I checked it wasn't you who took nursing classes"  
  
In the end, Gou managed to kick him out of the bathroom , letting him hyperventilate alone in the narrow hallway. Lifting her sleeves, she tended Haruka's wound with care and it wasn't until the Iwatobi member finally delved into sleep that she left his side. She found Rin crouching on the cold floor, his shoulders hanging low, defeated.  
  
"You know, he might need to get transferred to hospital"  
  
Rin sighed.  
  
"I can't risk that yet. He will die the moment he is out on these streets again, they are hunting him down as we speak."  
  
Gou knelt beside him and placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder. His own hand came to rest on top of hers, squeezing it lightly.  
  
"I'm sorry you had to see all this."  
  
"How long you two have been...you know?"  
  
Gou could read her brother like an open book. Samezuka had always been at swords' points with the Iwatobi gang , the mutual hate running deep in their veins.  For Rin to end up putting his life in peril for one of Iwatobi's top class soldiers, there could only be one explanation. Love always worked in mysterious ways.  
  
Rin turned his head to face her. His eyes glazed like a crimson mosaic shattered into smithereens. He had been crying.  
  
"Almost a year now....I don't know what I'm doing anymore....Tonight we had this job. Big one, good swag...and somehow Iwatobi morons got in the middle. Some snitch sent word to the cops. It was chaos. I found him bleeding behind some bushes and God knows how we crawled up to here. Now Samezuka are after him, the police is after him, freaking hell..."  
  
He buried his face in his hands and dissolved in tears.  
  
"Let us stay here for a couple of days. Until he can at least stand. We have nowhere to hide. Nowhere..."  
  
"Onii-chan..."  
  
She threw her arms around him and held him dearly, her heart beating in sync with his sobs.  
_  
Long arms encircled her suddenly. Gou yelped out of her reverie and found Seijuurou's face smiling slyly at her through the old mirror. Instantly, she jerked out of his embrace and he straightened his back, chuckling at her reaction.  
  
"Have you been daydreaming again?"  
  
She made a move to leave, but he forced her back to the chair , causing her spiteful eyes to meet his own through the stained glass.  
  
"Let me guess. That traitor brother of yours?"  
  
"Don't you dare mention him."  
  
"Why not? I must say I expected he would have paid his precious sister a visit by now, but apparently the man is a coward."  
  
"You will be pleading for a burrow to hole up yourself once he's here."  
  
The Samezuka captain raked his fingers through her long hair and pulled it lightly, compelling Gou to crane her neck backwards. He lowered his face on her, nuzzling her ear with his lips.  
  
"That bastard caused me more money and trouble than the whole Tokyo PD ever did all these years. Because of him, his Samezuka brothers had to face jail and their families had to flee their homes. You should be thankful he ran away like a scared cat instead of facing me, or he'd be dead by now. So, I suggest you drop the angry face for tonight. Besides, I may have a little surprise for you."  
  
At that moment, Nitori Aiichirou, one of Samezuka most fawning members, entered hesitantly the room.  
  
"I'm sorry , captain Mikoshiba. Yamazaki-senpai has arrived."  
  
At the sound of the name, Gou felt the blood freezing into stone inside her veins.  
  
"Speaking of the devil..."  
  
Seijuurou fondled her hair lovingly and stood up.  
  
"Join us in my office when I call you" he blurted above his shoulder, before following Nitori into the next room.  
  
The "office", as they called it, was a spacious and better lit room , separated from the one he used as a bedroom by a party wall, with a few pieces of furniture hastily placed together in order to resemble a bureau. There, casually leaning against the door-frame, Yamazaki Sousuke stood mysterious and imposing, a small black gym bag hanging loosely from his hands. His borderline forbidding demeanor sent shivers down Nitori's spine, as the silver haired male exited the place, essentially leaving them alone.  
  
"Why don't you take a seat?"  
  
Seijuurou offered while making himself comfortable on a tattered sofa right in front of a wooden coffee table. Sousuke approached almost indifferent and threw the black gym bag at his captain's lap.  
  
"Three hundred thousand yen in wads. Plus they got the message, they won't be mingling with our affairs in the future."  
  
Seijuurou unzipped the bag and smiled pleased.  
  
"You are very efficient when you plug away alone."  
  
"I don't like others hindering my work."  
  
“Good, good. Now..” Seijuurou's voice suddenly dropped an octave, as he assumed the stern expression he was known and respected for “..take a bloody seat.”  
  
Sousuke sank reluctantly in an old armchair across him.  
  
"Tomorrow morning I'm heading over to Tokyo. The cops haven't been on our tails the last days, but apparently I need to get there and make sure things stay this way. If anyone discovers this hide-out, we'll be screwed as we still haven't found a place safe enough for our new headquarters. So, I'm gonna have a little talk with my boys over at PD"  
  
"And you're announcing this to me out of all people, because...?"  
  
"You're a smart man , Yamazaki. I think you can tell why."  
  
"That's what I'm worrying about."  
  
"I need someone trustworthy to watch over this dump for as long as I'm gone. I consider the guys my family, but they lose focus when Samezuka remains headless."  
  
"You compliment flatters me." Sousuke sneered, "But others have been with the gang way longer"  
  
"And hardly anyone of them would put Samezuka above their childhood friend and lover, sticking with the gang instead."  
  
The raven haired man felt the muscles of his face twitch.  
  
"I don't like to talk about Rin" His tone was flat. Almost empty.  
  
"And I didn't summon you here to talk about him. But the truth remains, someone needs to run this place starting early tomorrow."  
  
"What if I refuse?"  
  
Seijuurou laughed genuinely for a moment, before his striking, golden eyes hardened.  
  
"I'm not asking you nicely, Yamazaki. This is an order."  
  
Sousuke stared at his empty hands in silence. Upon returning from his mission, he had hoped for a few days of peace and martial arts training. Perhaps some booze during the nights while relaxing in his secluded cabin. Certainly, though, he had no intention of pursuing any particular contact with the rest before embarking onto a new quest. And now? Now he was about to get more than he ever bargained, and not in a positive way.  
  
"For how long?"  
  
"Can't tell yet. It depends on what I'm about to encounter in Tokyo. No doubt, it won't be less than a week."  
  
"Your brother won't like it."  
  
"He'll sulk a bit. Maybe even give you the cold shoulder at first. But Momo's like a child in the body of an adult, he'll suck it up eventually. Besides, I need you to keep an eye over Gou as well"  
  
Sousuke tried to swallow the sudden knot hitching up his throat. He hadn't seen Gou since the night of the invasion.  He hadn't even been around that shameful morning Samezuka had stooped so low as to drag her and detain her within those walls against her will. Even though he had learned what followed in every detail.  
  
Seijuurou's lion-like posture seemed to mellow a fraction.  
  
"Despite everything that happened, I always cared for this girl. I may have pushed her over the edge more than necessary, but if I hadn't taken her under my wing, she would have ended up prey for the vultures within Samezuka's circles."  
  
"They wouldn't dare. You intimidate them enough."  
  
"Don't you know when the cat's away, the mice shall play? That's why I need you to keep those mice on a leash."  
  
"And what about her leash? What if she sees your departure as her chance to escape?"  
  
"Well that's always a possibility. But I think I've tamed her enough."  
  
A smug smile slowly crept at the corner of Seijuuro's lips, as his eyes strayed towards the shut door of his bedroom.  
  
"Gou-kun! Come here, love!"  
  
The rusty hinges squeaked , as the door creaked slowly open. With steps uneven, Gou approached them in silence. She tried her best to completely ignore the dark haired , alpha male sitting at the other end of the coffee table, as she curled up on the sofa. Seijuurou pulled her closer.  
  
"That's my girl"  
  
He lifted her chin and assaulted her mouth in an open display of domination. Gou moaned in protest and tried to shove him away, but her hands only found the vastness of solid, unmovable chest. Sousuke watched the whole scene , his face void of feelings.  
  
"I have great news for you, my little Matsuoka. I am leaving tomorrow morning and I'll be away for a few days. In the meantime, Yamazaki will be filling my place and making sure you aren't a naughty girl."  
  
His words fell like a bolt from the blue. Suddenly, she wanted to scream her lungs out with every little fiber of her body. Her fiery eyes found Sousuke , wearing his b lasé sapphire like always, and mercilessly pierced through him. Somewhere deep inside him, Sousuke was choking. He remembered that piercing gaze. He remembered it well.  
  
"No!" she growled and fidgeted within Seijuurou's arms. "Not him, never him..."  
  
Seijuurou tightened his grip on her , effectively washing away her objections. Under his hold, her body grew rigid.  
  
"It's not like you have a say in this."  
  
"I will never obey this hypocrite" she exhaled sharply as the fearless captain guided her hand on his denim clad crotch. She took the hint, and submissively squeezed him lightly.  
  
"Sure you will" Seijuurou whispered in the crook of her neck and his tongue grazed tenderly the velvet skin.  
  
Sousuke averted his eyes and stood up.  
  
"If we're done, I'll head out." he cut in, his voice low and cold.  
  
"Leaving already, Yamazaki? Don't you care for some late night fun?" Seijuurou chuckled almost breathless and provocatively lifted the hem of Gou's robe over her porcelain buttocks. She was naked underneath.  
  
The young girl froze. Unable to form coherent words, she shook her head vehemently.  
  
"I'm not interested." He cast a brief glance at her exposed modesty and turned towards the exit, ignoring the sudden shiver in his guts.  
  
"I forgot your prefer less smooth bottoms!" the muffled laughter of his captain was the last thing that reached his ears, as he left the place.  
  
Once in the chilling night outside, Sousuke inhaled deeply. The cold air swelled his lungs, tickling even the tiniest cords within his broad chest. The image of Gou had come to haunt him again. How could he ever forget those eyes? Those piercing eyes of red, full of resentment, boring into his soul and creasing it like a piece of paper. Twice in the past she had marked him with the same penetrating stare , though back then the feelings channeled into him were so different. The first incident had been so many years ago, that the memory had almost faded in time. They had been restless as adolescents, he and Rin. Their days were spent among petty crimes, skipping school and irritating the locals. The redhead had always been an edgy teenager, a reckless magnet getting them from one trouble into the other. But Sousuke would blindly follow him, taking him on his every challenge. And when they wouldn't bask happily in the sun, near the boundless sea they so loved, or disturb the neighbourhoods with their silly adventures, they would sneak into Rin's room , lock the door and immerse themselves into satisfying their bustling hormones.  
  
It had been one of those lazy nouns, while the Matsuoka siblings were still living under their paternal roof. Gou had been in school, and their mother had already dozed off next to an empty bottle of vodka and they...oh they had been so horny, that they hadn't even locked the door. Until it flew open and, just like that, their dirty little secret had stopped being a secret anymore. Young twelve-years-old Gou had been standing there startled , with eyes so wide that her thin, red eyebrows had completely disappeared under her short bangs. They had frozen in place for a moment that felt like hours; a semi naked Rin kneeling in front of him with his face pressed hard against his groin. The moment had passed and typical Rin had masked his embarrassment in cursing, but he had shoved him off without a word, swiftly zipping himself up, and had shut the door behind him, on the face of his yelling friend. Still bare-chest, he had grabbed Gou by her hand and lead her to a small bathroom, where they occasionally smoked weed away from prying eyes. He had placed her onto the toilet-seat and had almost ritually knelt in front of her small lap.  
  
_"I'm really sorry for what you just saw."  
  
_ But then she had looked at him with those piercing eyes of red, full of affection and insight, harboring a youthful beam he had never met before. Her child arms had intertwined around his neck, pulling him into an unforeseen but heartfelt embrace.  
  
_"Don't worry, Sousuke-kun. If my onii-chan trusts you and loves you, then so do I."  
  
_ That was the moment his view on her shifted. And as she was slowly maturing into one beautiful woman and his obsession over Rin was only growing deeper, he had found himself entertaining the thought of stealing her virginity as well. Sousuke never learned it had been Rin the one that eventually beat him to it.  
  
The following years, their relationship had been mostly on the good side. Neither too close, never too distant. Gou hadn't graced him with the same intense gaze anymore and the memory of it had been neatly tugged away in the maze of his life. Until that direful night more than a week ago. When they broke into her flat and shattered her world to pieces.  
  
_"There's an opening on the wall, behind the closet. Check there too."  
  
_ There it was again, that long forgotten gaze, those wet, red eyes piercing into his core. Only this time they were oozing shock and distress. He couldn't even bear looking into them, cause his reflection was that of a stranger.  
  
_"Traitor...traitor!"  
  
_ Her venomous voice kept echoing through all these sleepless nights, just like it had ominously echoed among the walls of her small apartment. Did he even deserve the scarlet mark of the betrayer, when it was Rin who had turned his back on them all? When the man he once regarded his one true companion had carelessly thrown their lives into the sweeping wind, all in the impulse of a wrongful desire? Instinctively, he rubbed he top of right shoulder. Years ago he had taken a bullet for Rin and his shoulder never really fully recovered. For a week now the old trauma was twitching in pain, sending stinging jolts through his flesh. Deep down the thought of Rin was what tormented him the most, flooding him with clashing emotions of remorse and anger.  
  
Spellbound in the memory lane, Sousuke had unconsciously approached the blazing bonfire in the front yard of the abandoned facility. Several Samezuka members were lazily spread around it, indulging themselves in beer and adult jokes.  
  
"Nii-san is leaving tomorrow and I guess that means I can finally teach Gou-san a few tricks about stag beetles... If you know what I mean!"  
  
"You'll get yourself into trouble, Momo-chan."  
  
"Just watch and be amazed, Nitori-senpai! Hey, Yamazaki-senpai! When did you return?"  
  
Sousuke sat on a tree stump and his cerulean lingered over the fire-lit faces.  
  
"Oi..."  
  
"Yo, Yamazaki" Uozomi's voice emerged through a jumble of cackles and whispers "care to place a bet? Tonight's gamble is who might get first into Matsuoka's pants before the captain returns. Current chances favor Minami, his good looks be damned!"  
  
"Over my dead body, assholes!"  
  
"Oh shut up , Momo!"  
  
Sousuke shook his head , turning down their offer, and let them continue the bickering and laughing around the large campfire. His gaze followed the trembling, orange flames as they licked the wood, before vaporizing into thick smoke , sending tiny embers into the air. Going through the next days would turn out more arduous than he thought.  
  
An hour later, Gou silently slipped into the expanding night. After saturating his hunger for sex, Seijuurou had peacefully fallen asleep. During such times, Gou could finally succumb herself into the serenity she was seeking. In a rare display of faith, during the last couple of days the Samezuka captain had permitted her short, past-midnight strolls around the yard. Besides, there was virtually no possibility of an escape; the walls separating the old factory from the dark woodland were too high to climb, whereas, everywhere else, patrolling teams of two or three members were restlessly scanning the place. It hadn't been freedom, though, the one knocking on her door at such early hours, summoning her to the darkness outside.  
  
The moon was just too beautiful and eerie to resist. Its shade was a deep, clear crimson, as its fiery magic dribbled on the sky's obsidian satin. Somehow its soothing colour reminded her of her brother's eyes, and this fueled comfort into her conscience. She had decided to ascend on top of the old warehouse, one of the highest buildings in the area, so she could stargaze at its sight before crawling back to her bedroom's prison. Unfortunately, her plans were meant to fall short.  
  
"Ooh!" Gou exclaimed lightly and rubbed her forehead. Upon taking an unlucky turn, she had bumped on something solid and hard. Lifting her gaze, she met Sousuke's glowing eyes raining down on her. Within the profound darkness, his teal glistened with a preternatural aura , the one forged in fairy tales and nightmares.  
  
"What are you doing here?" She eyed him suspiciously.  
  
"Considering your place, I should be the one asking questions."  
  
"I have nothing to answer to you. Now, if you don't mind.." Gou tried to circle around him, but he extended his muscular arm and blocked her way. She hissed.  
  
"Your room is the other way."  
  
"I am _not_ going to my room."  
  
"Sure you are.."  
  
She angrily shoved his abdomen with both hands. He didn't budge.  
  
"Mikoshiba-buchou lets me have a little walk at nights if I feel like to. Now, move!"  
  
"Then address your complaints to him tomorrow."  
  
"He'll be gone tomorrow."  
  
"Well, isn't life a bitch..."  
  
"The only bitch I know is standing in front of me as we speak"  
  
Sousuke's thick eyebrows sank lower above his aquamarine.  
  
"Go back to your room."  
  
"What's wrong with you? Mikoshiba-buchou has..."  
  
He took a step towards her , his voice raw like ice.  
  
"Mikoshiba-buchou this, Mikoshiba-buchou that...What are you anyway? His prisoner or his prost.."  
  
Sousuke didn't get to finish his word, as her hand came flying towards his cheekbone. With a sharp move, he caught it mid air before she slapped him. Letting a husky grunt, he used his intimidating body and pinned her on the wall behind them. Her back grazed the cold, sedgy stone. Gou protested and squirmed in his arms, but his grip was like iron. Eventually, she looked up and found him towering over her, a mix of anger and envy painted across his features. And she wasn't sure if the night was playing dirty pranks with her imagination, but his sight seemed slightly dazed, as his eyes momentarily hovered over her soft lips. She swallowed.  
  
That tiny hint of realization, as the bob in her throat lightly moved up and down, was what shook Sousuke out of his trance. Setting her free, he took a couple of steps back and, within the next minute, he was his old aloof self again. Gou didn't want to stay any longer around him. If returning to the shadows of her dim room was all it would take for her to flee this confusion, she was more than ready to retreat.    
  
"Starting tomorrow, there will be some new rules."  
  
His steady, emotionless voice reached her ears while she was heading away. Instead of a late goodnight, she spared him a bitter glance over her shoulder.  
  
"You won't break me...And when _he_ comes, your name will be added to his list."  
  
Sousuke watched her closely, until she vanished in the murk of the old building. He shoved his hands in his pockets and let his sapphire wander across the night's vault, before coming to rest on the bizarre moon. Its shade was a deep, menacing crimson, somehow reminding him of blood dribbling on the sky's blackness.  
  


* * *

  
Thanks for reading. I'd love to know what you think of it, if you like where this is going or not. Either way, 3rd chapter will be on its way...  
  
  
  
  


 


	3. "...and crismon was her dress."

**3**

_...and crimson was her dress_

* * *

 

 **Two Weeks Earlier**  
  
  
_"Did you know that sharks tan too? Some hammerheads swim near the ocean’s surface since darker skin means better camouflage."_  
  
_The sea breeze whistled through Gou's burgundy hair and gently raised the top layer of the golden sand. The beach lay peaceful and beautiful under the halo of the summer sun in the beginning of June. Sprawled, with his arms folded beneath his head, Rin reveled in its warmth, while light was pooling on the curves of his face._  
  
_"Why we're never taught about all the awesome stuff at school?"_  
  
_Rin lifted an eyebrow at his sister's childish amazement and smiled self-pleased._  
  
_"You don't need them to teach you such things, you have me for that."_  
  
_"You don't know everything, onii-chan!"_  
  
_"About sharks, I do. Did you know that female blue sharks develop tough skin to protect them from male sharks?"_  
  
_"Really?"_  
  
_"Mhmm. Males bite females during mating rituals."_  
  
_Rin glanced up at her, as her cute lips formed a circle of awe. A ray of sunlight twinkled in his eyes and, without a warning, he gently toppled Gou to the sandy ground. He leaned over her and shadowed the light away, while his trademark shark grin brightened up his face._  
  
_"Where are your thick fins, little lady? Huh?"_  
  
_He poked her ribs playfully and Gou burst into cheery giggles. She had always been so easy to tickle._  
  
_"I have something for you."_  
  
_He reached his black satchel and took out a package clumsily wrapped in pink and turquoise paper. Stars were gleaming within Gou's eyes while she eagerly unwrapped her mysterious present, revealing a strappy, floral dress._  
  
_"Oh I love it, thanks onii-chan!"_  
  
_She beamed and hugged him tightly. Rin lay back on the beige, silken sand, this time pulling her down with him, secured in his fraternal embrace. A seagull soared far above the top of the palm trees, anxiously flying to meet its kin in the immense sky-blue. Rin closed his eyes, letting the humming of waves lull him to sleep._  
  
_"There's something I wanted to tell you, onii-chan..."_  
  
_He interlaced his slim fingers with her long hair, softly toying with its ends._  
  
_"Mhmm..."_  
  
_"I don't like those new boys you hang out with."_  
  
_"The Samezuka guys? They are a cool gang and protect their members. I just join them for fun though, last night they set some bins on fire and the neighbourhood got stuffed with sirens and lights at three in the morning. You should have seen the locals' faces, it was hilarious."_  
  
_"They are always looking for big trouble."_  
  
_Rin cracked an eye open and looked down at Gou, amused. She was adorable, the way she clung on him and muttered her worries on his shirt._  
  
_"You just think that because captain Mikoshiba fancies you. I swear that beast blushed like a pansy when I introduced you to him."_  
  
_She vehemently shook her head in disapproval and buried herself deeper in his chest. Her youthful reactions always made him chuckle._  
  
_"Don't worry, I won't ever let him touch you."_  
  
_His whispering voice caressed her forehead, as his hand slipped below the hem of her school uniform._  
  
_"You're mine."_  
  
_"Rin..."_  
  
Gou woke up flustered, with his name on her lips. She rubbed her temples, trying to repel memories old and bittersweet that came every night to haunt her. The thrumming sound of nature was filling the dimly-lit room, as raindrops pelted the sheet metal roofs. It was early morning. She slithered out of bed and groped for the red robe in the shadows. A hazy shade of dawn lightened up Seijuurou's empty office, as the grey world outside was slowly waking up. Gou tip toed to the main door and tested the rusty knob, mostly out of habit since she already knew the answer. The door was locked. Just like it had been every single day, for the past week.  
  
The morning after Seijuurou's departure for Tokyo, when she had first realized the knob wouldn't turn despite her tries, she had gone ballistic. She had yelled and cried and bashed the door like a maniac, but to no avail. Sousuke had imprisoned her in those chambers and there was nothing she could do about it. It was as if she had been captured all over again and had to relive the nightmare of the first days. Only this time her captor was an iceberg and Gou had been left to squirm alone inside this jail he had built for her. Sousuke had stripped her of any feeble privileges she had been granted while painfully enduring Seijuurou's whims. He was keeping her locked during night time and whenever he wasn't around the abandoned facility. He was barely addressing to her and when he did, he was terse like a Spartan, his cold voice delivering orders and shutting down her complaints. And had she complained alot. She had hollered at his face, spat before his feet, even jabbed him repeatedly in the chest. But she had only been met by a body forged with concrete and a face made of ice.

When her direct attacks failed to break him, she decided to repay him with the silent treatment. She would blatantly turn her back on him whenever he approached or she wouldn't utter a word to him, refusing to even acknowledge his presence. And, of course, with every chance possible, she would defy his commands. In a rebel's fit, she stopped eating, scorning him and whatever he was providing her. If there was a way to initiate trouble within the gang, she would grab the opportunity like a rabid dog. Balances within Samezuka were getting fragile and even though her own safety was dangling by a thin thread, she was willing to risk everything as long as her actions induced more problems for Sousuke. Hence when she slapped Minami, after the cocky jerk had stood at her door frame badmouthing her brother, causing an uproar among Samezuka's aggressive males, she didn't flinch one bit.

And yet, Sousuke, like an unconquerable fortress, hadn't given in. He continued bringing her food every day and had been there every single time to gather the pieces of the mess she was creating. He had stepped in the last moment, saving her unrepentant ass and keeping Samezuka's wolves at bay. At nights, he wouldn't lay a single finger on her, even though the opportunities were parading in front of him like provocative floats. And when her ungrateful eyes would stare at him full of spite and disdain, his face wouldn't reflect those emotions. He would greet her with a stoic mask instead and let her boil in her own bitterness. This was her greatest torture. Because, once again, doubt had somehow crept inside her heart and particles of faith were being restored. Faith in the man she had sworn never to trust again. And this made her hate him even more.

Gou returned to Seijuurou's office and sank in the tattered sofa. A paper doggy bag from a popular diner chain was waiting on the desk, indicating that the bastard had paid her a visit while she was still asleep. At his thought, a chilling shudder crawled on her skin, all the way to her toes. She folded her bare legs close to her chest and rocked lightly back and forth, succumbing to a web of memories. Suddenly, the key turned inside the lock and Gou watched with suspicion under furrowed eyebrows as Sousuke silently walked in. Pellucid raindrops made his raven hair glisten. He cast a quick, inquiring glance at her, and when she snorted, averting her eyes with contempt, his attention swayed towards the untouched breakfast bag.

"You should eat at some point."

Gou just hugged her legs more tightly and spied on Sousuke through fallen burgundy bangs. Like a robot programmed for the task, he took out the contents of the bag and placed them on the desk; a cup of green tea and some noodle soup, both of them cold by now. He wouldn't show it, but her stubbornness was slowly riling him up. Her constant refusal of eating during the last days would eventually backfire, and with Seijuurou still having his plate full in Tokyo, it would result in just another anvil landing on his head. She excelled in arraying problems for him, she had proved that during the past week. His authority around the headquarters was already being questioned and, even though his intimidating character had fended his Samezuka brothers off during the incident with Minami, some of them had still bared their fangs.

_"We'll let it slip this time, Yamazaki"_

He could tell that Gou was experiencing wild pleasure out of all of this. Her silence was deafening, it screamed louder than words. Unfortunately for her, Rin's traits had visibly marked her character and Sousuke knew quite well how to push a few sensitive buttons.

"Why don't you put on something else?"

He creased the paper bag, his focus on stirring the cold soup unwavering. Besides, he didn't need to steal a glimpse. The intriguing image of her creamy legs, barely covered by that outrageous piece of crimson cloth, had been engraved in his mind the moment he entered the room.

"I'll wear whatever the hell I want."

"Really? And here was I thinking this dress is what captain Mikoshiba wanted you to wear."

Gou opened her mouth to shoot back his sarcasm, but she immediately swallowed down whatever she was about to say. Sousuke was right. Seijuuro wasn't there, in fact he hadn't been anywhere around her for the past week. Why she was still acting according to his appetite? Was his lingering presence so strong that his desires had overwritten her self-esteem? She hesitantly stood up, all the while sending leery glances to Sousuke's back. It would seem like she was bowing to his suggestion, but she couldn't suppress the sudden urge to shred that dress off her.  Gou vanished in the darkness of the joint bedroom, only to reappear five minutes later. A white, floral dress , falling just above her knees, was hugging her feminine frame. Its hem swirled around her legs with each smooth step and the rosy petals on its pattern imitated the light blush on her cheeks.

This time, Sousuke couldn't help but gaze at her. He remembered that dress. He remembered the day Rin had dragged him to the stores when all he wanted was to chill out on the sunlit terrace.

_"This shirt...hmm no, too dark for her. What do you think of this skirt?.. Wait no, that's too short, all the morons will be gawking...Perhaps a scarf...But I've got her one last time."_

_"What about that dress over there?"_

_Sousuke pointed at a lonely mannequin clad in an airy, floral gown. A clumsily handwritten sign was pinned above the neckline, indicating it was the last piece left. Rin's face beamed._

_"Oh yeah! I saw that when we entered, it's perfect!"_

_"Heh, no you didn't."_

It had been one size too large for petite Gou, yet they had bought it, all those years ago. Time had slipped by like grains of sand in an hourglass, yet that dress had remained the same. Perhaps a bit snug now around fully shaped feminine curves and a little frayed on the edges, but it was still there to root out memories buried deep within life's ashes. A life he once shared with Rin.

"You kept mumbling his name earlier."

Curled up at her corner on the sofa, Gou froze.

"I was just having a dream."

"Well..." Sousuke hesitated "...it didn't sound like just a dream."

Silence engulfed the room, making moments tick sluggishly and breaths halt in the throats. And then Gou, erecting her defenses, lashed out at him.

"Bastard, you have some nerve... You and the rest gang of jerks! Keeping me captive away from my brother all these days, bringing him up as an excuse to abuse me day and night. How can you even stand looking at your own faces in the mirror? After blaming him for every atrocity you carried out. Belittling him and threatening his life in front of me, while forbidding me to even spell out his name. And now?...Now you dare to dictate if I'm gonna think about him or not, you dare to interfere with his presence in my own dreams. I won't let you take that too away from me..."

Her suffering pounded on him like a torrential rain and, wordlessly, he sustained every droplet of it. Taking off his long jacket, he draped it over the single armchair before approaching the sofa with her disregarded breakfast in his hands. He placed the cup of tea and the, once steaming, bowl of noodle soup on the coffee table and calmly motioned at her.

"You have to eat."

With anger wrecking her strained nerves, Gou kicked forcefully the wooden table like a spoiled child. Noodles and tea were spilled around, soaking the already stained carpet.

"I don't freaking want to!"

Like brother, like sister.

"Well, you are going to clean it up." Sousuke's bleak voice couldn't be more irksome.

"Just like you were sent to clean up after my brother's 'mess' in Tokyo?"

Thick, dark brows blended together into a menacing scowl. She had his full attention.

"Watch your mouth."

"Come on, Sousuke. What have you been doing all this time in Tokyo? Weren't your orders to track him down?"

"I was on a different job."

"Your _real_ orders..."

He scoffed.

"What do you know about how I work?"

"I know how gangs do. He was the problem and you were the fixer. Who would believe you'd forsake your bonds so easily and betray him?"

He grabbed her firmly by the arm and yanked her upwards. His face was joyless, his voice more glacial than ever. But the first flames of fury were already rekindled within those plains of teal.

"Betray him? Rin was the one that severed those bonds first. No one forced him, he chose to leave Samezuka and bite the hand that was feeding him."

She jerked her arm away from his strong grip. Red fingermarks were already shaping on her ivory skin.

"Samezuka never left him any choice, he was running away for his life!"

"And what made him run away for his life in the first place? Your exclusive memory is fascinating, I think you failed to remember a few details."

"I remember quite well. I remember the night in my apartment. I remember you showing them the way."

Sousuke breathed out his disappointment. He took a step back, turning around to leave since battling against a Matsuoka had always been a lost cause.

"You don't understand."

"Oh, there's one thing I do understand. I can finally see why he disappeared with Haru-chan. Why he chose _him_ over _you_."

Something deep inside Sousuke snapped. In a sudden shift, he almost pounced on Gou like an eagle on his vulnerable prey. As he shamelessly invaded her personal space, the petite redhead got startled and lost her balance, falling back on the sofa's cushions. He was towering her in a heartbeat, those flames within his eyes now running wild.

"What's wrong with you, Gou?"

His voice was hoarse, as if it streamed from the inner recesses of his soul. His body, endless and rocklike, made no room for escape and Gou's heart was already drumming uncontrollably below her gown.

"Why you keep provoking me like this? You barely eat..."

His hand trailed up her neck.

"...you pick up fights with the boys..." 

His face closed in on hers.

"..it's like you wake up every morning with sole purpose to test my limits..."

His fingers locked around her chin, forcing her to meet his smoldering gaze.

"What's your problem?"

"I'm caged..." she soughed and words flowed between them like a soft, rustling sound.

"It's for your safety."

"Bullshit."

She challenged him through clenched teeth. He snarled at her sass and , swiftly, pushed her arms up, trapping her wrists above her head within his solid grasp.

"I treat you with respect and this is what I get in return. Maybe I should become like them. Maybe you only respond to violence, after all."

His free hand violently ripped the top buttons of her dress, making her pearly mounds bounce lightly at the shock of the sudden exposure. Gou squirmed like an eel but he pressed himself against her, keeping her steady.

"Does this work for you now?!" he nearly barked at her face "Is this how you like it? Rough?"

Up to that point, Sousuke's plan had been to merely scare her. To teach the little Matsuoka brat a lesson. But when her bare leg encircled his waist and she lifted her pelvis up an inch to meet his crotch, the balances switched. Gou huffed in stubbornness, blowing a dark, cherry strand off her face, and he inhaled her warm breath, his lungs swelling with its sweetness. Years of unfulfilled lust were slowly overpowering him and his usually aloof face, now verged upon the threshold of lewd hunger. He rolled his hips against her core and felt her whole body tensing up below him. Her lips were slightly parted, suspense escaping them in soft pants and he brushed his own around the corner of her mouth, tickling the outline with his tongue. She trembled under his weight and when she didn't reciprocate further his advance, he glanced up at her.

And there it was again. That haunting gaze. Those piercing eyes of red overseeing his existence. Only this time, they emanated a bizarre mix of erotic longing and hidden fear. Warning alarms went off inside Sousuke's head , forcefully stirring him out of his haze. He pulled back and stared down at her aghast. Immediately, Gou covered the unfastened front of her gown with her hands, forming a protective shield above her nakedness. She angled her neck sideways, avoiding his stunned face.

That was his cue. He stood up and nervously raked his fingers through his raven hair. Gou sat up on the sofa , her palms restlessly rubbing her shoulders as she hugged herself.

“Listen, I'm...I'm not like...”

“...the rest?” She looked up , her eyes wide and wet. “Where had you been that morning, Sousuke-kun?... Where?”

A shot through the heart would have been a balm to the soul.

“Gou...”

“Just go.”

He seemed rooted to his spot, his mind registering for the first time what his absence had caused.

“Leave already!!!”

Her angry plea sealed his guilt. Without a second thought, he turned on his heel and burst out of the office. The door shut behind him with a bang. Gou's heart leaped in her chest. She had developed somewhat of a phobia with sudden, loud bangs. They were frightening sounds when you didn't expect them. And they were so familiar.

_The passing days seemed identical inside Gou's small flat. Dawn...fear...noun...fear...night...fear._

_Repeat._

_Haruka was gradually strengthening up, but all the pressure was gnawing Rin's soul in a slow, torturing pace. Until one morning, he zipped up his jacket, pulled on his hood and left the apartment without telling them a single word. With his cellphone switched off ever since his runaway and any contact with him being impossible, they helplessly waited for him the whole day. Gou biting off her nails in agony, Haruka lost in his silence more than ever. Like two kids grounded inside her kitchen._

_He returned hours later, as the dusk was settling in. The key turned inside the lock with a click and a shadow of how Rin once had been, passed her doorstep. Earlier stress had vanished from his face, giving its place to sunken cheeks and hollow eyes. As if he had aged within a day._

_“What have you done, onii-chan?”_

_He didn't answer and she tailed after him, tears edging at the corners of her eyes._

_“Onii-chan?”_

_Rin stared blankly at Haruka instead._

_“It's over.”_

_The brunet shook his head._

_“Idiot.”_

_“What's going on?” Gou's eyes seesawed frantically between the two males._

_“The cops won't be coming after you, for the time being. As far as your involvement is concerned, you were never there.”_

_“At what cost?”_

_“You've also been cleared of a few past charges.”_

_Rin continued emotionlessly, like a monotonous tune. Haruka's ocean blue gaze on him, his darkened crimson one on the tiled floor._

_“Come Gou” the brunet grabbed her arm “let's get some clothes packed.”_

_“Haru-chan, wait.”_

_“Come.”_

_She let the Iwatobi ace guide her away from the kitchen, leaving Rin alone in front of the white table, with his shoulders hanging low and his face buried away._

_The three days that followed were a bane on burning coals. Members of Samezuka were getting seized inside their homes and several families had to flee the block of flats before the police paid them a visit. Rumours travelled fast on the streets, as arrests took place in various other parts of the city. Rin and Haruka kept two sacks ready below Gou's bed, patiently awaiting Mikoshiba's wrath to manifest itself._

_“I'm scared, onii-chan.”_

_“Don't be. They've been scouring the city looking for us, but they can't imagine I've been in the heart of their lair all along. Nobody in their right mind would hide away from Samezuka, within Samezuka.itself. And obviously they don't expect to find Haru here as well.”_

_“They didn't expect it at first. I haven't shown up in the streets for days. By now, they suspect we are together.”_

_“Even so, with all these cops unleashed, they'll come here only when they'll have picked up the rocks everywhere else.”_

_“So they will come” Gou sighed._

_“That's why we are ready to hit the road any given moment.” Rin tried to quell her anxiety. “ Which reminds me..”_

_He took out an envelop from the inner pocket of his jacket and pushed it on the table before her._

_“This is an one way ticket for a small town, three hours away from Tokyo.”_

_Gou's irises dilated and she shook her head in disapproval._

_“I'm not gonna be separated from you.”_

_“It's dangerous to continue being around us.” Rin took both her hands in his own and stroked them gently “Gou, as soon as we leave, don't waste any time, use this ticket and get the hell out of this dump.”_

_She squeezed her eyes shut._

_“No.”_

_“You have to. Listen, Gou. Inside the envelop, there's also an address. Once you arrive, get there, and ask for Tachibana Makoto. He'll be waiting for you. With a little luck, we'll join you after a few days.”_

_“They won't let me.”_

_“They'll be too busy chasing us. But that's why you need to leave right away.”_

_“We might need to do the same sooner than we thought. Tomorrow morning even.” Haruka added bluntly and Rin nodded with a sigh, as he untwined his fingers from his sister's grasp._

_Gou spent that evening surfing through the TV channels. Haruka would steal glances at the screen and unconsciously toy with Rin's scarlet hair, while the redhead snoozed peacefully on his lap. And when the night fell, there came a knock on the door._

_“Hana?”_

_Gou answered her old classmate and next door neighbour with a wary smile. Hana's usually bright face looked now sulky and reluctant._

_“I'm sorry Gou, but I didn't want any more problems.”_

_“Problems? What are you...”_

_“They're coming.”_

_That was when she heard them. Doors banging again and again, as a sudden uproar was unleashed on the lower floors and reverberated throughout the building. Dozens of heavy footsteps flooded the stairs, followed by the sounds of metallic objects clanging against the handrails._

_“I'm sorry, Uozumi left me no choice....I'm sorry...”_

_Hana kept repeating before she withdrew in her flat and locked the door behind her. Swiftly, Gou battened her own door and returned to the narrow lounge, all the while trying to keep her growing panic under control._

_“They're here!”_

_In an instant, Rin was jolted from his sleep and together with Haruka rushed like bolts to her bedroom. They slung their backpacks over their shoulders and tried to erase quickly every trace of theirs around._

_“Haru, get in the closet, fast!”_

_Hidden in the back of the closet, an opening no more than one meter high lead to a secret passageway within the walls. It was a narrow crawlspace at first, but it eventually turned wider and ended up in a small hall of unused space just above the staircase. From there, you could carefully open one of the windows and find yourself on the spiral stairs of the old back alley. Whether a result of poor workmanship or a well concealed getaway, the mysterious passage had been the object of their gameplay for months, when the Matsuokas had first moved in during their early teenhood. In fact, it had been Rin the one who accidentally discovered that the walls were hollow and , with Sousuke's help, eventually removed enough bricks for them to childishly creep in and out of the flat._

_Pausing the time for a moment, Rin pulled Gou tightly into his arms._

_“Once they all leave to come after us, get your ticket and run away. We'll find you in a few days. Promise?”_

_She nodded within the crook of his neck, surrounded by that intimate scent she was unwilling to abandon. Reluctantly, Rin detached himself from her embrace and ducked his head through the opening. The last thing she saw was Haruka mouthing a soundless “thank you”, before they both vanished from her sight._

_The sudden, loud bang on the door made Gou's blood curdle. For the years to come, its thundering sound would echo in her dreams. As soon as she unlocked it, the door yielded under the pressure and younger Mikoshiba's borderline annoying spark poured into her flat._

_“Gou-san, Gou-san! We didn't wake you, did we?”_

_Gou was backed up against the wall. An arm placed Momotarou in a headlock, dragging him away from her._

_“Argh! Nii-san!”_

_“Go search inside, move!”_

_Mikoshiba Seijuuro's towering height cast a shadow all over her. His face hardly contained his bad temper._

_“Sorry for coming unannounced, Gou-kun, but your brother has been rather naughty lately.”_

_She opened her mouth to respond, but his bark muzzled her._

_“Turn the place upside down , boys!”_

_Immediately, three Samezuka men followed their captain into the rest rooms. And then Sousuke's solemn face lingered at her doorstep. Seeing him there, with them, wasn't less than a shot through her heart._

_“Gou....”_

_She didn't have time for this. She just turned her back on him and stuck with the rest intruders, trying to rain on their parade as much as possible. Her apartment was small and they combed through it like wildfire._

_“Captain Mikoshiba, it doesn't look like they have been here.”_

_“No track of them, nii-san. Zilch. Nada.”_

_Seijuuro exhaled deeply. He had bet they'd find something._

_“Well, in that case, let's...”_

_“Hold on a minute...” Sousuke's grave voice chimed in “...There's an opening on the wall, behind the closet. Check there too.”_

_In that instant, Gou's world collapsed._

_“No...No! You traitor...Traitor!!!”_

“Traitor...” It was a word overflowing with venom, and for the past hours it circulated her mind, becoming her burdensome mantra. She had spent the day crawling in her own skin, shifting from crying to sleeping like a switch. As the night spread its sheet, the rain had become more intense. It wasn’t the soft, sodden drops of morning she was hearing ; it was like walnuts were hitting the metallic roofs with force. Although, somehow, the rain called for her. The torrent striking the world outside seemed cathartic. Like it could wash away the impure thoughts numbing her mind whole day. Because, in the end, her body had deceived her and, despite Sousuke's threats, it had welcome him. Her brother's traitor. She was mad at him for sealing the doubt in her heart. The moment he had left, she had stripped off the floral gown as if it was drenched in poison, and had put back on the crimson dress he so despised. But, above all, she was furious with herself for letting her guard down like this.

Her door was unlocked. He never returned to shut her in. He had left her there, just like he had forgotten his jacket on the tattered armchair. Gou was dizzy. She needed to feel those raindrops pelting her face, soaking her body and cleansing her soul. This was her chance to break free. Even if that meant going out in the yard. Even if it was for a few minutes.

Night greeted her with a stormy wave and she welcomed it back with a smile. Everything had melted into a grey blur and she waded through the pools of rainwater barefoot. She felt a little light-headed and wobbled once or twice, but the excitement of wandering out in the night again, was too precious to pass up. All this however suddenly died out, when a blinding light blocked her way.

“Gou-san? What are you doing out here?”

Momotarou aimed his flashlight at her face, his golden eyes beaming under the hood of his orange raincoat.

“Nothing.”

“Jeez, you're soaked to the bone. You shouldn't roam outside in this weather. Lucky you, I have a warm bed waiting in my room.”

“No.”

He chuckled.

“Oh, come on, Gou-san. What does nii-san have that I don't? I am funnier and way more gentle. And have I told you about my collection of stag beetles?”

He took a step towards her and she shoved him off with her hands. She staggered away from him, but before he managed to grab her, the world around her blackened and Gou collapsed like a paper doll. Momotarou rushed to her side shocked, when a strong grip on his flimsy raincoat, forcefully yanked him backwards.

“What the...Yamazaki-senpai?!”

The tall brunet loomed over him, his killing aura diffusing into the darkness.

“I swear I didn't touch her!! I was on my patrol when she suddenly fainted!”

Sousuke didn't answer him. Instead, he carefully lifted Gou in his arms and carried her back to the office, leaving the young, startled Mikoshiba watching them in the distance. Inside her room, Sousuke switched on a flickering lamp and placed Gou on the bed's rough mattress. He picked up his long jacket from the armchair and covered her trembling body with it. Slowly regaining her consciousness, she looked at him with drowsy, weary eyes and all she could mutter through gritting teeth was one word; _cold._

Sousuke browsed around him, unable to find something thicker than his jacket. He pondered over their situation for a moment and, deciding he had no better choice, took off his own soaked shirt. He lay by her side and cuddled her, letting the heat of his body radiate through her. Instinctively, she snuggled against the firmness of his muscular chest and his large hands kept rubbing her shoulders, as she was lulled to sleep.

In her dream, Gou was running towards the blazing sun. She reached out her arms and its glow grazed her little fingers, warming up her cold skin. It felt like bliss.

She woke up an hour later. Outside, the wind was howling like a beast through the fierce storm. She had to blink a few times before she realised that the pleasant light she was basking in during her sleep, was actually the warmth emanating from a naked, male body. That the sun in her dreams was Sousuke. He must have sensed her stirring in his arms, because he glanced down at her, cocking a curious, dark eyebrow.

“Did I pass out?”

“Yeah...You haven't been eating properly, weakness got you.”

“I see...”

Recent memories of what had transpired the previous hours, slowly resurfaced in her mind's ocean. She had vanished into the raging rain on a whim, but he had been there to find her and guide her back. He had patiently remained by her side, shielding her away from the cold outside and the nightmares within. Gou bit her lower lip. Knowing she was fully awake now, Sousuke withdrew his arm that circled her shoulders. He made a move to slip away from the bed, when a soft hand on his broad chest stopped him.

“I should go.”

“Stay.”

Gou propped herself up on her elbow and slid a leg over him, straddling his groin. Sousuke swallowed hard. She let her gaze roam on the solid plains of his vigorous chest, before it settled on his godlike face. The glowing teal in his eyes shimmered unearthly within the room's darkness. He always had been so beautiful. Gou leaned down, but he averted his face.

“Why?”

“Because I won't be able to stop...” his hand gently trailed up her cheek and his fingers entwined with her burgundy hair “ ...you look too much like _him_.”

“Then don't.”

That was it. His hand sneaked around her nape and pulled her down, his lips eagerly crashing against hers. And when he rolled them over until Gou was on her back, that crimson robe he so hated found the place where it had always belonged; with the dirt on the floor.  


 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading. I'd like to know what you think so far. Next chapter is on its way.


	4. "...and crimson were their eyes."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I made a small banner to go with the story oi64.tinypic.com/maxyxk.jpg

**4**  
_...and crimson were their eyes_

* * *

  
  
**One Week Earlier**  
  
  
The blue flame flickered , instantly lighting up the tip of the cigarette. Shutting the butane lighter with a click, Uozumi let the smoke swell his lungs, before exhaling floating rings in the midnight air.  
  
"Two weeks gone , Momo, and Matsuoka's panties are still intact. Tsk tsk."  
  
Across him, the young Mikoshiba put on a grumpy expression and kicked a stone before his feet, raising a small cloud of dust.  
  
"It's not like I can go anywhere near her with Yamazaki-senpai guarding her like a watchdog. He's so much stricter than nii-chan!"  
  
"Am I?"  
  
Few steps away from them, Sousuke was leaning casually against a concrete wall, with his muscular arms fondled on his chest level. The naughty copper-head snorted at his direction irritated, and just focused on grooving the earth's dirt with his shoe.  
  
"Oh man!" all of a sudden Ai exclaimed anxiously "I have in my bag some bottles of water and soap for Gou-san, but I totally forgot to bring them to her. I'd better do it now"  
  
"I'll do that instead, Nitori."  
  
Ai nearly bounced at his place when Sousuke's commanding voice cut him off.  
  
"Besides, it's pretty late, I need to lock her door too."  
  
"Argh! What's with this stupid rule anyway? " Momotarou finally protested "She wasn't locked in when we first brought her here, and that worked fine."  
  
"She's a constant nuisance, a parasite. Confining her ensures everything runs smoothly around here."  
  
"I'm sure we can keep her under control ourselves, Sousuke." Minami raised up his head from the pile of old tires he was sitting on.  
  
"Can you, Minami? Because I can still see the mark of her slap on your face."  
  
A wave of chuckles spread around the members of Samezuka, causing Minami's face to heat up and steam gush out his ears.  
  
"I just wish nii-chan was back already".  
  
Momotarou muttered to himself, reflecting almost everyone's thoughts. Some of the men nodded.  
  
"Really, what's going on with captain Mikoshiba? Why it's taking him so long to return?"  
  
"Nii-chan is fine, Uozumi, but he had to stay more days in Tokyo cause he is trying to get a couple of our guys out of jail before the court."  
  
Instantly, a shadow darkened the men's faces. Recent memories of getting thrashed by the police filled the air and it was Uozumi's upset voice that spoke for everyone.  
  
"That bitch...It's all hers and her brother's fault. We must give the Matsuokas a taste of their own medicine. That asshole won't be running away for much longer."  
  
Cheers of agreement and rebel yells echoed at the old factory's yard, as the blood of youth started pumping inside the veins of Samezuka. Snapping his neck from one side to the other, Sousuke stepped forward and clapped his hands to get everyone down from their sudden high.  
  
"Alright, alright, keep some of this spirit for when we actually clash with the Iwatobi. It's late, everyone back to your patrols. Let's split it, boys!"  
  
They all obeyed, albeit some of them reluctantly, and soon, only empty beer bottles and cigarette butts were left decorating the yard's ground. Five minutes later, Sousuke shut behind him the door of Seijuurou's office. The creaky sound and his sudden appearance made unsuspecting Gou almost yelp. An irked grunt escaped her coral lips and she narrowed her eyes at him, before stubbornly turning her back as if the plain desk in front of her was much more interesting than his standoffish presence. He indifferently tossed the bag of supplies along with his jacket on the armchair, and rolled up his sleeves, all the while studying her inflexible rear. Matsuokas could be so headstrong.  
  
Sousuke closed the distance between them in two wide strides. When she still refused to turn her face to him, he stretched his hands on the desk, on either side of her body, trapping her between his strong arms and his unyielding torso. Towering over her small frame, like a huge spiderweb around a frail dragonfly, he breathed in the cherry smell of her burgundy mane and, leaning down, he nuzzled the alabaster side of her neck with his nose.  
  
"You know, pretending you're still mad at me makes me so horny."  
  
A devious spark twinkled in her eyes and she relaxed her head against his shoulder. She had won.  
  
"I _am_ angry at you."  
  
"And I love it when you show me this anger in bed."  
  
His teeth grazed her smooth skin, before biting down on her luscious flesh. His bite was hard, just like the beast inside his pants that prodded her back again and again. Gou gasped, opening her mouth to exhale some of the heat overwhelming her body and Sousuke found the perfect chance to assault it. He pulled her satin hair, angling her neck backwards, and forced his scorching tongue past her parted lips. The kiss was sloppy and obscene, their lips barely touching while their wet tongues fenced in ecstasy.  
  
"Someone might...aah...enter..mmh.."  
  
"I sent...them off..."  
  
His hand grabbed the base of her head, keeping it steady in that uncomfortable position, and she moaned in protest. As a response, he just deepened the kiss, devouring her mouth and sucking away the air she was breathing. After an endless moment of hunger, their lips untwined and Gou finally managed to twist within his arms and look at him. He cupped her face with both hands and let his thick thumbs soothingly knead her temples. She closed her eyes and leaned into the warmth of his touch. Her hands sneaked their way below his cotton shirt and her fingers stroked his firm abdominal muscles, mirroring the circling motions of this thumbs.  
  
"I missed you"  
  
His whisper caressed her cheeks along with his hot breath, and his lustful eyes watched intensely her soft expressions as she reveled in his massage.  
  
"Sousuke-kun...it's been only twelve hours..."  
  
"That long already?"  
  
Gou opened her eyes, only to see him grinning playfully at her. It was a rare sight to catch Sousuke's smile. It probably worthed more than gold. Sousuke let his hands travel across her body, fondling their way upwards, until they rested on her round, voluptuous breasts. He groped and squeezed them hard above her floral dress, again and again, feeling the nipples hardening and poking the flimsy fabric.  
  
"Damn, you're so perfect."  
  
In her turn, she trailed the pulsating lines of his biceps and stepped on her toes to entwine her delicate hands behind his neck, but she failed to reach him. She chuckled.  
  
"And you're so tall."  
  
"We can fix that."  
  
He swiftly cupped her curvy buttocks and swept her off her feet, placing her on the desk behind them. Her frisky giggles filled the room, only to be abruptly muffled by his voracious mouth. He chewed on her bottom lip, until its rosy shade gave its place to vibrant red and she followed his lead, swirling her tongue around his, until her buds went numb. When Sousuke parted her creamy thighs and slipped his hand inside her panties, Gou couldn't throw his clothes away fast enough. His palm flattened on her snatch and she grinded against it, while desperately tugging at his shirt. A sly smirk danced on his lips and he took it off, putting an end to her impatience. Her ruby eyes roamed greedily on his smooth ripples, her pearly teeth grazed slowly his solid pectorals and Sousuke quickly unbuckled his belt, since his lower half ached for equal attention.  
  
Gou stopped him from lowering his pants. Instead, she glanced up impishly at him and undid his zipper.  
  
"Keep them on."  
  
His shaft twitched in her hand once it was freed and Sousuke emitted groans of relief, between biting her left earlobe and licking the sensitive spot behind it.  
  
"You want to stain my jeans again, don't you?"  
  
"Perhaps, though I prefer it when I'm staining your face."  
  
Her shameless words instantly sent a dozen darts of pleasure all the way to his throbbing cock. He had never imagined that such a cheerful being, with the looks of a delicate damsel and the character of an audacious tomboy, would be so lewd and insatiable in sex. But apparently, in kinkiness, Gou was gambling on Rin's level.  
  
Before lust drove him crazy, Sousuke ripped her panties apart. The cotton barrier fell down in shreds and he seized her folds again, flicking his thumb over her swollen clit. She started panting and her fingers circled his length, pumping him in sync with his strokes. Teal interlaced with scarlet into an exploding combination, and neither of them averted their gaze even for a second. Eye sex was completely mind blowing.  
  
Once Sousuke decided she was enough wet for him, he opened her thighs wider and in one swift motion, shoved himself inside her, all the way to the hilt. Her head fell backwards, eyelids heavy with lust, back arching and smile wilder than ever. Sousuke had an impressive manhood, she had to admit. Perhaps it was as long as Seijuurou's, but it was definitely much thicker. And the result of that translated into various sensations throughout her body's nerves, as he began to move fiercely in and out.  
  
Tiny droplets of sweat started forming on the ridge of Sousuke's back, as a primitive fire consumed him. His deep thrusts made his body muscles contract, just like her inner walls were convulsing around him. He craved to see more though, so , without losing his rhythm, he shoved her down onto the desk and yanked the front buttons of her dress, tearing it open.  
  
"Damn you, just yesterday I sewed those back...oooohhhh..."  
  
She cried like a feline in heat as a particularly hard push stabbed her insides. Sousuke leaned down and captured the erect rosebuds of her breasts with his teeth, melding pain and pleasure. Each merciless thrust was followed by a sharp bite on her inviting bosom, each swift pull out by a soothing trail of his tongue. Gou weaved her fingers into his raven hair , pressing his face firmly against her, welcoming his devouring thirst again and again.  
  
When he sensed he was reaching his limit and his impeding orgasm couldn't be postponed any longer, Sousuke straightened up and , grabbing her tightly by her thighs, he dragged her forcefully to the very edge of the desk. Gou yelped as her back suddenly slid on the rough surface and he stretched her ivory legs, resting them on his shoulders. From there, he drilled inside her with wild abandon and soon met his blissful release, as her ass bounced up and down in mid air. She followed his climax three seconds later.  
  
Time around them was slowly adjusting back to normal. Sweet oxygen invaded his system, as Sousuke breathed in lungfulls of air. He grabbed the desk to steady himself and his gaze swayed all over his spent lover. Gou ran a hand over her mouth, still stunned by the intensity of their union. He gathered her in his secure arms and she clung onto him, wrapping her legs around his waist. And while still buried inside her, he silently carried her to bed. Her back greeted the lumpy mattress and he finally pulled out of her, only to hastily kick off the burden of his shoes and pants. Moonlight sneaked inside the dim room from a dull, cracked glass and silver streamers showered his naked, rippled body as he stood. Bathed in night's radiance, Sousuke was like an ancient God, bearing the glowing, sapphire eyes of a dragon.  
  
For a week now, they had been jumping each other's bones like bunnies. Every dawn they would put on their masks of hate and raise impenetrable walls between them, only to tear them down every dusk and surrender to their lust for hours. Sousuke had taken her in every possible corner of those rooms, and as their passion was turning unbridled, he had become dangerously bold. Like that time he allowed her to slip outside for her laundry, only to tail after her and fuck her against the warehouse's wall. Each minute on this reckless roller-coaster they had embarked bore the risk of getting caught, and though they did their best to keep Samezuka in the dark, the thrill of the ride shimmered within their eyes.  
  
Sousuke pounced on Gou, sprawled as she was on the bed, and, peeling off her undone dress, assaulted her neck once again. Unable to contain the powerful emotions stirred inside her, Gou let chuckles of mirth and opened her legs for him. But Sousuke had different plans. He swiftly rolled her on her belly, as if she was no more than a feather, and spread his endless body on her smooth back. Parting her velvet lower cheeks, his fingers teased and probed the tight opening of her anus.  
  
"Time for my favourite part."  
  
His words turned her natural blush one shade deeper, and Gou bit her lower lip in anticipation of what was coming; a rear gate no other man had breached before. Not even Rin.  
  
And as the world outside was getting darker, in the distance Uozumi threw his half smoked cigarette on the ground and twisted his shoe to extinguish it.  
  
"Needing to lock her door, my ass. Don't you think it's about time your brother gets an idea of what's been going on?"  
  
Next to him, Mamotarou remained silent, his knuckles blanched under the weight of his squeeze, his golden eyes blackened under the shadow of his rage.  
  
The night cruised on and, several hours later, Sousuke was smoking bare-chest on the cemented stairs outside the office. The moments before dawn were always chilling and a cold breeze cooled from time to time his naked skin. Light footsteps wrinkled the stillness and Gou sat beside him, placing a soft kiss on his triceps.  
  
"Someone might see you."  
  
"At this time, there are only the guards at the front gates. Patrols will start again in an hour."  
  
She rested her head on his shoulder and they stayed quiet for a while, basking in the darkness.  
  
"We might need to stop..."  
  
Gou lifted her head and stared at his handsome profile with the puzzled expression of a child.  
  
"Are you scared?"  
  
"Not about me."  
  
Her tone hardened.  
  
"I never asked you to worry about me. I can hold my own."  
  
"Still, we need to figure out what we're gonna do. Mikoshiba will return at some point, I don't think it will take him more than a week...give or take...I have to get you out of here."  
  
"When did you start smoking?"  
  
Sousuke knitted his thick brows and glanced at her a bit bemused.  
  
"You know, it's funny. Your brother had asked me the same thing the night of the big job fiasco."  
  
"You miss him?"  
  
 Sousuke lowered his head. She closed her eyes with a sigh and leaned again on his arm, a light smirk dangling from her lips.  
  
"Don't worry. He will come."  
  
"Rin? Rin will come?"  
  
"Mhm..."  
  
"He's your brother. Of course you still trust him and hope he'll show up."  
  
"I don't hope it, I know it. We have a connection."  
  
"Most siblings do."  
  
"No, it's deeper than that..."  
  
She must have sensed the question in his stare, because she opened her warm rubies and met his sparkling sapphires.  
  
"Come on, Sousuke-kun..." she shook her head with a hint of nostalgia "...Don't tell me you never knew?"  
  
_"Are you sure you don't want to join us? Sousuke will drop by in twenty minutes or so."_  
  
_"You've already asked me twice, nii-chan."_  
   
_Being the one to prepare their meals ever since they were very young, Gou was cutting the cucumber with the expertise of a chef. Finishing up, she added the fresh vegetable to her cold lettuce salad. Certainly an evening out with her older brother and his best friend sounded much more promising, but she was in no mood for those Samezuka teenagers that would inevitably tag along and their crude jokes.  
  
Suddenly, she felt an arm circling her waist and a hot breath tickling her nape.  
  
"Mom is in the living room..."  
  
"Dozed off with an empty Jack in her hands."  
  
Rin cornered her in front of kitchen's counter, as he pressed his body against her back. He pulled down the left strand of her shirt and let his infamous shark teeth nibble her sweet skin.  
  
"Not now, onii-chan. Stop."  
  
With a disapproving click of his tongue, he freed her reluctantly from his grasp and leaned against the counter using his elbows. Gou cast a couple of devious glances at him, while cutting a tomato in thin slices.  
  
"Besides..." she started, stifling a cheeky giggle "...I know you're really in love with Sousuke-kun".  
  
"Nonsense" Rin grumbled.  
  
"Come on, nii-chan. I've seen you, remember?"  
  
"That was one single occasion. Plus, weren't you just twelve?"  
  
"You forget that's only two years ago. But, I've seen you more times since. And heard you!"  
  
Rin shook his head half startled, half amused.  
  
"You little minx..."  
  
"Hey, it's not my fault if you're such a moaner!" she blushed at her own words.  
  
"I guess there's no point in denying it. Yes, I love Sousuke. But...I also love you."  
  
"Then you fall in love too easily, nii-chan."  
  
"No, I don't."_  
  
_When she laughed, taking his words so lightly, Rin grabbed her arm and compelled her to face him._  
  
_"I don't..."  
  
Never before a confession had been so steadfast and meaningful for both of them. Their crimson eyes blended in one blazing fire and as their bodies got closer and their faces leaned in, they both felt those familiar palpitations as if their hearts beat in sync.  
  
But when their lips came just inches apart, a shattering sound forced them to jolt away from each other. A bottle of whiskey lay broken in various pieces on the tiled floor. Standing above it, hair disheveled and swollen eyes, Mrs. Matsuoka stared at them in utter shock.  
_  
_"What the fuck you think you're doing?!"  
  
Gou covered her mouth with both her palms, a horrifying expression spread on her youthful face. On the other hand, Rin rolled his eyes and adamantly returned his mother's stare.  
  
"It's none of your business."  
  
"How dare you, you perverted bastard! What were you just trying to do?"  
  
"Mom, he didn't do anything."  
  
"Gou, go back to your room!"  
  
"But mom..."  
  
"I said go to your freaking room!"_  
  
_"She'll do whatever the hell she pleases."  
  
Anger was riling Rin up already . Equally disturbed, their unstable mother stepped closer, her eyes fixed on her own blood with fear and disgust.  
  
"What have you done to your sister, Rin? Have you been hurting her while I'm asleep?"  
  
"Asleep?" he snickered "...better say completely drunk and wasted."  
  
"Watch your mouth!"  
  
"No, I think I've had enough of you and your constant fits."_  
  
_"If your father had been here..."_  
  
_"Don't bring dad into this."  
  
Tears were pooling in the corners of Rin's eyes. His mother seemed deaf to his objections, lost in a world where he always was the main culprit.  
  
"...he would have set things straight, but....but you killed him! His weak heart couldn't stand the path you were taking...you ungrateful son..."  
  
"Hello??!! Dad drowned. You fucking hear me? He drowned! You don't know what you're saying anymore, booze has turned your brain into mush!"  
  
"Onii-chan, stop it! Mom, please!"  
  
Gou's body was shaking, as she approached their mother in a vain attempt to drag her away from the kitchen. Still dazed by alcohol and confused by anger, the redhead woman that had once upon a time been the beacon of their family, slapped her daughter hard on her rosy cheek. Rin jumped between them in an instant. His body covered his trembling sister like a shield and his hands locked around his mother's wrists like vises.  
  
"Let me go, you're hurting me!"  
  
"Gou, go upstairs and get your stuff."  
  
"But nii-chan..."  
  
"No buts. Just go."  
  
Obeying her brother's order , Gou quickly ascended their wooden staircase. In a matter of seconds, Rin's face had grown rigid. His mother squirmed like an eel but his grip was too strong for her.  
  
"You are not gonna hurt her again. Ever."  
  
"Where are you taking her? I have the right to know, I'm her mother!"  
  
"Well, I'm sorry, mom. But you remembered this role of yours way too late."  
  
He shoved her off and she collapsed on the floor in sobs. Soon enough, Gou returned with a small sack hanging by her shoulder. She turned her face to check on their mother, but Rin forcibly pulled her by the forearm towards the door.  
  
They both stopped dead on their tracks; Sousuke was standing in the middle of their living room, with eyes wide and face as if struck by a lightning. Rin dug in his sweatpants' pockets and grabbing the family's car keys, he tossed them at his tall mate.  
  
"Let's go, you're driving."  
  
They could still hear their mother wailing and cursing once they got into the old Honda. Sousuke peeked on Gou through the rear-view mirror. Her face was blank and streams of tears had dried up down her cheeks. On the other hand, in the passenger's seat, Rin seemed all tensed up. Sousuke's mind was somehow struggling to store away what he had just witnessed inside the Matsuoka house.  
  
"So...where are we going?"  
  
"To Samezuka's block of flats."  
  
_ Sousuke sighed. Once upon a time, he had indeed managed to suppress those memories. _  
_  
"I guess a part of me always had this suspicion, but I deliberately chose to ignore all the signs." _  
  
_ Gou graced him with a heartfelt smile.  
  
"That's onii-chan for you. He always falls in love easily. Except this last time..."  
  
"He's still typical Rin."  
  
"No, it's different with Haru-chan. I've never seen him like this before. My brother was always loud and dramatic. He was never desperate."  
  
Sousuke didn't reply. He brought his cigarette to his lips and let nicotine saturate his nerves.  
  
"Does it bother you?"  
  
"It used to. I was coming up with ways to beat up Nanase before sleep", he chuckled in a bittersweet tone "I guess it bothered me alot up until..."  
  
"Until?"  
  
"...a week ago..."  
  
Who would imagine that ice could melt so easily around proud hearts. That a lonely hue of sapphire would build up comfort inside a warm shade of crimson. Gou leaned into Sousuke's arms, those familiar arms of her childhood, and let his balmy kiss tour her away, following the trail of a young firefly that swirled happily above their heads.  
  
The following noun, Gou left her room in order to return Nitori his bag. Sousuke was going to be busy all day, planning out a risky job with the heads of another street squad. Thus, she intended to keep a low profile and avoid staying around the rest gangsters more than she had to. She was one corner away from Nitori's room, when she heard them. At first , it sounded like a whispering chatter, but she soon distinguished Uozumi's voice as he spoke confidentially to another mate.  
  
"It looks like we've located the prick. He's hiding in a town west of Tokyo, along with some Iwatobi morons."  
  
"Are we gonna surprise the shark-boy? I'm dying to see the look on his face."  
  
"As soon as captain returns, he'll fill us in. Revenge shall be sweet."  
  
With her soul hitched up her throat, Gou hurried back to her room, forgetting all about Nitori's bag and every other petty detail that once mattered. The afternoon hours swayed by excruciatingly slowly, with her agony hitting red alarm in the loneliness of her chambers. Rin was in immediate danger and she had no way of contacting him from her miserable cage. She kept racking her brain for a solution until the scarlet sun hid in the horizon. There was no visible alternative; she had to escape and reach Rin.  
  
It appeared that Samezuka had intelligence about the same Iwatobi hideout she was initially traveling to. After Rin had given her a note with the address she was expected at, she had memorized the info and burnt the little piece of paper, in case it fell in the wrong hands. If Rin was still in that place, it was urgent to break free and warn him. She doubted Sousuke knew anything about this, or he wouldn't be guessing about Seijuurou's return. It was also highly unlikely a man like Uozumi would let anything slip in front of Sousuke, as he envied the very ground he was stepping on. She could reveal to him what she had overheard, of course. He would believe her without a second thought. But he would never help her flee the facility, too concerned for her own safety. In fact, he would stand as an annoying obstacle.  
  
No, she had to act fast and act alone.  
  
So when the night shed its darkened veil, just before her lover returned to claim her body anew, Gou slipped on a black, Samezuka jacket and tip toed outside Seijuurou's office. She carefully slid through the shadows, passing deserted buildings and crawling under haunted trucks that both time and man had relinquished. It didn't help her perilous plan that she had been strictly confined most of her time there, as she hadn't the place mapped out in her mind. She knew there were openings around the steel wired wall fencing the old factory, but she had no idea how to spot them within the night's murk. She tried to keep away from the main gates and any patrols around that area, and after a while she found a tall, gnarled tree whose branches seemed to extend a bit over the walls.  
  
That was her big chance. She rushed to the tree's base and hurriedly tried to climb up its old trunk. And she would have made it to the top, if a stern voice hadn't wrecked her ambitious plan to freedom.  
  
"Stop where you are!"  
  
Strong hands were dragging her down by her ankles and Gou kicked and fidgeted to no avail. Once her feet landed back to soil, she recognized Minami's face among her pursuers. His cunning grin made her want to puke and as he approached her, she wasted no time and kneed him in his groin. Minami howled in pain and reeled backwards. Another man grabbed her under her armpits and struggled to hold her still. A powerful fist crushed her belly and Gou doubled up.  
  
"Bitch!"  
  
Their cries alerted the yard and soon circles of light were dancing around them, as everyone still awake dashed to their spot.  
  
"Getting away, aren't we?"  
  
A few men stepped aside and Uozumi emerged from the small crowd. His sardonic smile rained upon her and his eyes gleamed with the triumph of a winner. Gou just spat at his face.  
  
"You fucking slut..." he hissed and jerked her by her red mane , shoving her down on coarse gravel with brute force. "I guess you forget what state you are in!"  
  
Dusted and scratched, Gou strove to stand up, but someone kicked her and her back hit the ground again. Laughter spread around the men and several of them mocked her ordeal.  
  
"Oi, Momo!"  
  
Uozumi motioned at the young Mikoshiba who was watching the scene unraveling before him aghast.  
  
"If you still wish to shag her hole, now's your chance."  
  
The copperhead took a step back. Uozumi sighed disappointed.  
  
"You really are your brother's disgrace. Oh well, if you ain't gonna do it..."  
  
He licked his lips provocatively before Gou and his fingers tugged at his zipper.  
  
"Hold your dick, Takuya!"  
  
Everyone turned around as Sousuke's grim voice cleaved sharply through the dense air. His face had never been drearier and it felt like temperature dropped a few degrees as he strode in. Instead of meeting relief, Gou was engulfed now by an even more foreboding feeling.  
  
"It was about time you showed up, Yamazaki. I'm afraid you'll have to wait in line, some of us have unfinished business with little Matsuoka."  
  
"I pity you, Uozumi" Gou suddenly snarled, still trapped on the ground "You wish Mikoshiba-buchou had chosen you as his helpmate, but you're nothing more than a pathetic wimp."  
  
"Shut the fuck up!"  
  
Gou writhed in agony as another kick bruised her ribs. Instinctively, she covered her head to avoid any more hits coming her way, but the next second she witnessed Uozumi crashing near her with a loud thud. The animal within Sousuke had lunged at him. Solid punches stormed down his face, again and again, gashing his lips and battering his nose.  
  
"No! Sousuke-senpai!!  
  
"What the hell you're doing Yamazaki?! He's one of us!"  
  
Their comrades screamed around them and it took four of them to yank Sousuke away from his blood-stained victim. Gathering the frail pieces of his shattered ego, Uozumi staggered back to his feet and coughed droplets of red.  
  
"You all see it now?" His envious eyes scanned the shocked faces of his companions. "This is what I've been telling you all along. The situation has escalated ever since he took over. And now he's even backing up that filthy traitor's sister!"  
  
He dared a step closer to Sousuke.  
  
"Did it really worth it, Yamazaki? Blowing everything up for a mere pussy?"  
  
The veins through his entire body were pulsating uncontrollably and Sousuke darted forward, ready to attack again. But this time, someone elbowed him hard on the back and he lost his balance, dropping to his knees. Instantly, a bunch of them were on top of him, stretching his arms behind his back and nailing him to the ground. Still, it felt like trying to contain a wild bear unleashed.  
  
"If any of you touches a single strand of her hair, I swear no one will save you from my hands."  
  
"Do you really think we are that savages? I'll tell you what is gonna happen. From this moment, you aren't in charge around here anymore. As for your little redhead, she's a danger to Samezuka much like her brother was. We will keep her locked away from you, until captain Mikoshiba returns."  
  
Uozumi gestured towards Gou.  
  
"Take her."  
  
Two men lifted her up, and she cast her piercing glance of red at Sousuke, this time swarming him with her confidence. His face reflected her stubbornness, and he watched in silence as they dragged her away. His blood was like lava, boiling deep inside him. He couldn't abandon her a second time. He wouldn't.  
  
Once Gou was gone, his subduers released him. Some of them stared at him with repulsion, some others were already feeling guilty for assaulting him. He didn't utter a word to them, frankly he couldn't blame them for being faithful soldiers to Samezuka. Until ten minutes ago, he thought he was one too. He only raised his voice, once Uozumi started walking away.  
  
"It's ironic how you keep mentioning the captain. Even if I'm a lost case, you really believe that he'll reward you once he's back? That he'll be happy with how you're leading his gang or treating Gou?"  
  
Uozumi paused for a moment and his lips curled up to a brash smirk.  
  
"You can spill everything to him if it pleases you. But who do you think he'll eventually believe? His loyal comrades or the butt-hurt ex of his enemy?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two more chapters to go, guys! Reviews are appreciated, thanks a lot for reading.


	5. "...and crimson was the sky."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm really sorry for the delay in posting this chapter, but I was abroad for a while. Now I'm back and I'll be updating/posting the stories. This chapter is a bit darker at points, so please be warned.

  
**5  
** _...and crimson was the sky_ **  
**

 

* * *

  
**Previous Day** ~~~~  
  
  
Blackness had descended upon her. The monotonous dripping sound of water leaking from a corroded pipe, was the metronome setting the rhythm in prolonged silence. Cold kept penetrating her skin and cracking her bones, as her back lay almost naked on the unfriendly , cement floor. The shreds of her, once precious, floral dress clung to her raddled body, unable to shield her away from the weather's whims. Various bruises and scratches were mapping her ribs and the faint red marks of fingers digging into her flesh, were still branding her creamy hips. Old stains of blood were tainting the nearby wall like dark smudges of rust. Something had died in there, ages ago, long before she was dragged and tossed deep into misery. The blood spots weren't pleasing in the eye like the forgotten aquarium calendar in Seijuurou's room, but they still served as a type of distraction whenever _they_ came.  
  
The first night had been sufferable. But when they failed to intimidate her and she kept resisting like a tough veteran, it didn't take long for some of them to coarsen and surrender into their animal instincts, turning a blind eye to the consequences. She still didn't budge. Her teeth had snapped shut around the pitiful manhood of her first aspirant abuser, earning her several slaps and kicks, but also a wild satisfaction. And then the pills came, fanning the flames of her captivity, turning the fire into a chaotic inferno. When she refused to eat, they mixed them in her water. When she smashed the glass, they just pried her mouth open, forcing her to swallow. After that, almost every hour had been a descent into endless haze.  
  
But even during those darkest hours, with her mind being drugged and her body violated, Gou wouldn't raise the white flag. She would shout, but wouldn't cry. She would hurt, but wouldn't beg. It was impossible to subdue her free spirit. Instead, she would sneer at her captors and, in the short moments of clarity in between the dopes, she would repeat her brother's name like a mantra, reminding their unworthy souls that their doom was getting near.   
  
Her only worry was Sousuke. His absence by her side was a terrible feeling and, even though she was dying to hear a mere word about his well being, she wouldn't dare to ask any of the Samezuka men, certain that they would discover the immensity of her weakness and maltreat him just to break her. Fortunately, her sedated mind had rushed to her aid like deus ex machina, interfering with reality and unleashing specters of the past.   
  
For every gloomy dawn, they would come to save her. Small ripples would wrinkle the walls around her and the shadows would stir from their sleep, slowly shaping into those two handsome faces she so loved. And then, Rin and Sousuke would slip past the bars of her cell, completely unnoticed by night and its children, just like their teenager selves used to slip into her small flat through the secret passage, back when she had first moved into Samezuka's reign.   
  
_"Onii-chan!! I told you to stop coming in here like that!"_  
  
 _Rin teased her ponytail and laughed._  
  
 _"Rin, you shouldn't scare your sister."_  
  
 _"Don't wiggle your tail out of this , Sousuke-kun. It's not like you used the front door either."_  
  
 _"I'm just keeping an eye on him."_  
  
 _Rin tossed a swift kick to Sousuke's calf._  
  
 _"Oi, asshole, stop trying to impress my sister."_  
  
 _"As if it would work..." Sousuke murmured, missing the faint blush on Gou's youthful cheeks._  
  
 _"Ok, enough with that. Gou, come with us, there's a live concert at the football pitch near here. We're getting some beers and sneaking in."_  
  
 _"I don't know, onii-chan. I promised Hana I would keep her company if I didn't go early to bed. If we leave now, she'll definitely see us. She has eyes throughout the corridor."_  
  
 _"We'll just get out the way we got in, using the passage. Come on, we came to save you from a boring night of babysitting your heartbroken neighbour."_  
  
 _Sousuke nodded._  
  
 _"That's right, we're your saviors."_  
  
The cell's door creaked open and the faces of her saviors evaporated like smoke in the air. Heavy footsteps made the ground vibrate and Gou's wary eyes crawled on the shades approaching her. Their black hoods made them look like dire hangmen from the Dark Ages and, sometimes, within her hallucinatory daze, she would think she recognized some of them by their voices.   
  
Something cold trailed her bare thigh, sending shivers through her sensitive skin and Gou jerked backwards. The culprit laughed and brushed her leg with the cool steel of his handgun again.  
  
"How is our lovely redhead today?"  
  
The gun was now replaced by an equally icy and unwanted hand, that leisurely fondled its way to the edges of her crotch. Gou smacked it away.  
  
"Are we having a little tantrum again? It's ok, we can fix that."  
  
Someone jiggled a plastic bottle in front of her and a different, hoarse voice scratched her ears.  
  
"Drink."  
  
She knew well what was inside that bottle, but her thirst was overwhelming since she had been deprived of water for hours. More sinister chuckles echoed in the dim cell as she took a few greedy gulps.  
  
"See? Now you're a good girl. Keep behaving like this and we might even let you see your brother when we snag him."  
  
Taunting her about Rin had been merciless, but faith was lying deep in Gou's heart; if someone like her could stomach so much abuse and still not yield, then someone like Rin would be a nightmare to subdue.  
  
"Oh yeah, we didn't tell you, did we? The mouse has been spotted and the cheese awaits him in the trap."  
  
"That's right, we know where he is and it's only a matter of days till he joins you behind these bars."  
  
"So rejoice, my little Matsuoka. Although, I'm not sure if he'll be able to talk to you. You see, I hate people who can't hold their tongues when it comes to our family."  
  
One of the men pretended he was cutting his own tongue and waved it in the air, eliciting his companion's roars of approval.   
  
"I can't guarantee the traitor's state either. Though now that I'm picturing him, I get a sudden itch on my balls."  
  
"Mhm, he's a big faggot, perhaps if we take care of him the same way as we do his sister, he'll appreciate it?"  
  
"Oh, he'll love it! What do you think, Gou? Would you like watching us banging that ass you call a brother? "  
  
Gou watched in silence their nasty dialogue and slowly her lips curled up to a wild, borderline demented, grin.  
  
"What the fuck?! Why you're smiling, bitch?"  
  
Her gaze seesawed on their blurry figures, as the pearly white of her teeth shimmered.  
  
"Because you're already dead. You just don't know it yet."  
  
A hard slap stung her face, leaving a deep red mark on her cheek. They always resorted to violence when they were getting nervous. Amidst curses, she was once again shoved down on the coarse cement. One of them straddled her pelvis and their belts clunk as they hastily unbuckled them. Gou knew what always followed next. She averted her adamant face towards the threadbare wall. Where were those blood stains again?  
 _  
_Ah, there. _  
  
_

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

  
  
_"What's wrong with the sky tonight? Where's this fucking crimson coming from?"   
  
Sousuke ducked his head and stared through the windshield at the nightsky's luminous shade of blood. In the driver's seat next to him, Rin was tapping his fingers on the wheel, rhythmically following a tune inside his head.   
  
"The huge spotlights of that new club-hole between the 6th and the 7th avenue are causing it."  
  
Sousuke frowned, his eyes searching the night's vault, and soon spotted the fluorescent beams that illuminated the world in a peculiar red.  
  
"6th and 7th avenue? Isn't that district controlled by the Iwatobi?"  
  
"Mhm."  
  
"So, you've been in that club?"  
  
Rin's fingers abruptly stopped their ticking dance.  
  
"I might have. Your point?"  
  
"Nothing."  
  
Sousuke pulled out a cigarette from a crumpled packet and lit it up. Rin frowned as his best friend exhaled a long stream of smoke.  
  
"Since when did you start smoking?"  
  
"Ever since we stopped fucking."  
  
Rin rolled his eyes, inwardly scolding himself for unintentionally initiating that discussion again.  
  
"Here we go. We never really stopped doing anything, you just mean I don't crash at your place every weekend anymore."  
  
"At least you admit there has been a change."   
_

_ The redhead turned his focus on the empty street expanding in front of them. His hands clenched firmly around the wheel, as tension was building up inside him, stretching his facial features and blazing up his fierce eyes. Sousuke could feel the blast nearing any second now.  
  
"Relax, Rin. I'm a big boy, I won't be shedding tears over it."  
  
"Oh for fuck's sake, Sousuke! I've known you since you were wearing diapers, when the heck did we agree we'll turn exclusive? I've always slept around, and you, asshole, did too. Sometimes with women, other times with that bubblegum bitch you used to play basketball. So, shut the fuck up now and stop sweating over your irrational fear of me riding a different dick."  
  
"Are you done?"   
  
Sousuke asked in his usual calm and unsympathetic tone, and Rin let out the deep breath his anger was holding.  
  
"Yeah, I'm done now."  
  
"Good. What time is it?"  
  
“Shit..." Rin checked his watch, and then scanned briefly the obscured neighbourhood. Everything seemed quiet. "It's almost time, they should show up any given minute now."  
  
For the past hour they had been patiently lurking outside a notorious watering hole, sheltered in the dimness of a stolen car and disguised from head to toe as police officers. Despite being a popular underground joint, the bar was serving as a facade for the owner's gambling business and every night around that time, when the lights faded out and the roads were barren of activity, he left his hideout along with a few stooges and the night's ill-gotten gains. An illegal treasure much desired by Samezuka._  
  
_Rin's and Sousuke's job was rather simple, even though it required a certain level of convincing acting. As soon as their partners in crime ambushed the unsuspecting scoundrels, they would make an appearance as a night patrol, pretending to take over the situation and call for reinforcements. If everything went according to plan, the Samezuka gangsters would be able to run away with the money and buy themselves some time before the actual cops got a whiff of what had taken place._

_If everything went according to plan._

_"Rin, we have company."_

_"Fuck..."_

_The redhead cursed as three figures emerged from the shadows, moving to the bar's direction, the moment the owner and his henchmen exited the back door. And as the intruders prowled, oblivious to the two men in uniforms hidden just meters away, their shades shaped up to faces painfully familiar._

_Rin froze. He could recognize that raven head even with a blindfold on._   
  
_"What on earth do Nanase and his mates want here?"_

_"How the fuck should I know?"_

_Rin pulled out his cellphone and his fingers frantically skipped over the glowing numbers._

_"Momo? What's going on?"_

_"It's those fucking Iwatobians, Rin-senpai! Minami and I are literally trapped in the alley. Oh man, this is going to hell, should I just take them out?"_

_"No! Listen, there are probably more of them, don't get out of your hide!"_

_"Shit! I think they spotted Minami! They are coming our way! I have to do something..."_

_"No, Momo! Don't shoot!"_

_All of a sudden, the loud, rippling sound of a gunshot sliced through the air. There was a still moment of dead silence and then, all hell broke loose. A hail of hot lead followed and gangsters flooded the streets in panic._   
  
_"Momo! Momo answer me!"_   
  
_"We got him Rin-senpai! We got the bastard!"_   
  
_Rin's cellphone almost dropped off his hands. A compelling fear overrode his senses and for the first time in his short life prayed to God for Haruka's life. Grabbing his favourite checkered shirt, he hastily struggled to get rid of the policeman clothes._   
  
_"Rin what are you doing?"_

_"What does it look like I'm doing? We have to get there, come!"_

_"Wait, I forgot to bring my clothes with me."_

_"Are you completely mad, Sousuke? Were you planning to be a fucking cop all night?"_

_"This was supposed to be a routine job."_

_"Oh, screw it. I don't have time for this."_

_With his heart drumming wild, Rin jumped out of the car and ran across the street like a bolt._

_"Wait, Rin!....Fuck..."_   
  
_Still dressed in blue, Sousuke got out and rushed through a chaotic medley of gunshots and screams. Rin had already vanished like smoke and Sousuke's complete lack of orientation was making things worse. Suddenly, his sapphire eyes widened as the frightening sound of sirens came from afar. The night was turning to a complete disaster. Finding his way through a dark alley, he spotted Momotarou peeking from a corner and immediately grabbed him by the arm. The young copper-head jumped out of his own skin._

_"I'm just a passer by, officer, I swear!"_

_"Hush down, Momo, it's me."_

_"Yamazaki-senpai?! You almost gave me a heart attack. I've run out of bullets and now the freaking police is coming.We're in deep shit."_

_The sirens kept screeching louder and louder, and the blue lights were flashing their ominous shade in the streets._   
  
_"Where is Minami?"_

_"I saw him getting away but I was cut off by those Iwatobi fuckers and ended up here."_

_Sousuke's mobile buzzed in his pocket and soon the barking voice of a furious, elder Mikoshiba pierced through his ears._

_"At last, Yamazaki! Who the hell called the cops here? And where is Matsuoka?"_

_"I don't know and I don't know"_

_"What you mean you don't know? Where the fuck are you?!"_

_"I'm with your brother in one of the alleys behind the bar."_

_"OK, get Momo and leave the place immediately. Uozumi is close, he'll pick you up"_

_"But what about-"_

_"I don't want to hear another word, this is a freaking order, not an invitation!"_

_The honk of a shrill horn reverberated off the surrounding buildings, as Uozumi braked his car at the other end of the alley. They both dashed towards their unforeseen getaway, but as soon as Sousuke opened the door, he paused. The worrying thought of his precious friend gone missing had wrapped around his limbs, pulling him back._

_"Yamazaki, hurry up and get in!"_

_"I need to find Rin."_

_"Have you lost it? Cops will be swarming this place at any minute. If you get caught, we are all screwed!"_

_Uozumi was right. The risk of accidentally outing his Samezuka mates fell heavy on the brunet's shoulders. Deep down Sousuke knew that he would eventually regret it, but as the seconds were ticking away and the police was closing in, he had no other option than fleeing. He just hoped Rin was safe._

_The days passed with everyone on their toes. The clash of the gangs had unleashed a massive police manhunt, especially against Iwatobi, since they had been the first to engage the brawl and the blood found was incriminating them. Seijuurou Mikoshiba had sent his own hounds roaming the streets, his searing hatred towards Sasabe and his followers running deep since that night's fiasco. However, their main problem was that Rin Matsuoka had literary disappeared from the face of the earth. Their Tokyo PD insider had assured them the reckless redhead had slipped police's hands and they had scanned every major hospital and minor health center, in case he had been admitted injured. And when their investigation was proven fruitless, Sousuke walked alone around every foggy alley, checked under every brick bridge, knocked on every shady bar's door, the fear of eventually discovering Rin's lifeless body in some muddy ditch, frozen and forgotten, hovering over him with every step. All in vain._

_Until one sleepless night, the strands of Fate took an unexpected twist. Cops started barging into their houses, waving the search warrants in the faces of Samezuka members and, eventually, arresting several of them. The frantic operation continued for three days, causing pandemonium among the gang's ranks, forcing many of their families to abandon the haven the Samezuka buildings once were. And when the desolate face of Seijuurou stood before them, speaking the disturbing truth no one had dared to admit, the dread they were living these past days mutated into seething rage. The one only the pain of betrayal brings._

_With his head hanging low and his teal eyes unfocused, Sousuke took every single word he was hearing like a stab through his heart. Undoubtedly, there were many unflattering epithets to describe Rin, but calling him a traitor was nothing more than a blasphemy to Sousuke's ears. He confronted the captain right after the disheartening gathering came to an end._

_"There must be something we're missing"_

_"Trust me when I say I wish there was. But Tokyo PD turned suddenly on our tails and as we speak our mates are getting shoved behind bars for past crimes that have nothing to do with the last job. Someone is giving out names and details. And there is only one person mysteriously missing all this time."_

_"Still, that's no proof. Rin would never...that's absurd..."_

_"You know what else is absurd, Yamazaki? Matsuoka is not the only one that vanished that night. There has been no sight of that Iwatobi scum, Nanase, in the streets for weeks. And my brother swears their shots got him."_

_Sousuke felt all the blood being drained from his face and the light of hope that used to give him strength, flickered feeble in his eyes._

_"Surprised, aren't you? Just connect the dots and you'll see it yourself. We've been played around like fools, but we'll find them. There is only one place we haven't searched yet."_

_"Captain Mikoshiba, Rin's sister doesn't know anything regarding his whereabouts. I personally asked her twice."_

_"Why would she tell you?"_

_Really, why would she? He cherished their friendship, even though it wasn't as close as he wished for, but there was no chance Gou would expose anything Rin had trusted her with, even if her life depended on it. Her whole world reflected in her brother's crimson eyes, she had made that clear in various ways all those years she and Sousuke knew each other. Still, Sousuke's secret infatuation with Gou was tricking him in believing that, even if she hadn't revealed anything to him, he would have seen through her facade and any of her lies. She owned so many of Rin's traits , after all. And he could read Rin like an open book, right?_

_Except, Rin had deliberately abandoned them when Sousuke thought he had been chased away. Rin had been hiding apparently, when Sousuke thought he was somewhere dying, wounded and helpless. And, above all, Rin had eventually chosen another man, when Sousuke thought he occupied the entirety of his heart._

_Haruka Nanase. He couldn't even spell his name without spitting droplets of venom. That filthy Iwatobian. That cold, human livestock. That total waste of breath. Sousuke knew that Rin was capable of great schemes, but this time he was sure the redhead was being mislead by whatever witchery the dolphin boy had cast upon him. All Sousuke needed to do was to take Nanase out of the equation, and their world would continue spinning round and round._

_So, when the night came and they surged the Samezuka building like a tremendous torrent, Sousuke found himself standing at Gou's threshold driven only by his blind envy. And yet, when his eyes fell on her adorable face, tracing the emotional stress inflicted by all these fearsome gangsters suddenly marching into her flat, he couldn't help but mellow his ego and wonder what he was doing among the scoundrels violating her privacy._

_"Gou..."_

_He longed to explain his presence there. To promise her, word by word, he held no grudge against her even if she had harbored Rin all those days Samezuka were descending into darkness. She completely ignored him though, preoccupied as she was with the men ransacking her little, cozy heaven. He didn't give up. Tailing after her, he leaned closer and tried to whisper away her agony._

_"Just let them search the place a bit and they'll be gone in two minutes. They won't hurt you."_

_"What's wrong with you, Sousuke-kun?"_

_Everything and nothing. That's the answer his mind murmured, as he watched her shaking her head at him before following Seijuurou and the rest into her bedroom._

_“Captain Mikoshiba, it doesn't look like they have been here.”_

_"No track of them, nii-san. Zilch. Nada.”_  
  
_Sousuke noticed the disappointment on Seijuurou's face. Their awe-inspiring leader had expected they'd find some clues that would lead them to the two runaways. Especially since Uozumi's chick, Chigusa Hanamura, who was living next door, had forewarned them about the suspicious noises she had heard coming from Gou's apartment. But Sousuke had been right; they couldn't have been hiding in there. Rin wouldn't endanger his sister for Nanase's sake. They wouldn't even be able to escape without being seen, would they?_  
  
_Sousuke's heart skipped a beat as he finally understood. For many restless nights, he would regret the words he was about to say._  
  
_"Well, in that case, let's...”_  
  
_“Hold on a minute...There's an opening on the wall, behind the closet. Check there too.”_  
  
_He couldn't even stand the grave sound of his own voice. And if his unrequited passion for Gou hadn't been the bonfire keeping him warm through the cold years, her rage that showered him like a hailstorm would have been proven cathartic._  
  
_"No...No!! Traitor...Traitor!!!"_  
  
_But he had been a slave to this love for so long, that those piercing eyes of red, staring at him full of shock and disgust, would end up becoming his demise. At that moment, Sousuke knew he had lost Gou for good._  
  
_She twisted and kicked while Minami kept her trapped in his arms, preventing her from lunging at Seijuurou like a wildcat, as the lionhearted captain peered into the obscured passage. He gestured for everyone to keep quiet and, instantly, a wide palm hushed down Gou's cries. Seijuurou tuned into the eerie silence settled behind the brick walls and when the distant, screeching sound of a window cracking open traveled in the dusty air, his golden eyes broadened._  
  
_"They're still here! The passage is very narrow, Momotarou get in and follow them. Go!"_  
  
_"Alright, nii-san!"_  
  
_"Minami, stay with Gou-kun and call Uozumi.Tell him to block the back alley that leads to the 3rd avenue. The rest of you, come with me! You too, Yamazaki!"_  
  
_Sousuke felt a small hand grabbing his jacket's sleeve and, momentarily, his sapphire gaze entwined with that velvet ruby he so adored._  
  
_"Don't....Just don't..."_  
  
_"I'm sorry..." He pulled his arm away from Gou's grasp and sprinted down the stairs, following the roaring gang._  
  
_They found them stalled in the alley. Only Samezuka didn't exactly have the upper hand. During their short clash, Rin had managed to put Momotarou in a steady headlock, pointing the menacing barrel of his gun at the copper-head's temple. The young Mikoshiba was sniveling in vain, as the more he squirmed, the harder Rin was squeezing him under his arm. Opposite to them, Haruka was leaning against the brick wall, his left hand in a slightly defensive position in the air, his other one rubbing the recent injury on his leg. A few steps away from them, Uozumi and a second hoodlum had extended their own weapons and, as high levels of adrenaline deformed their faces, they kept switching their aims between the two fugitives. The rest gangsters pulled their guns upon arriving at the unfortunate scene, but the fiery redhead wouldn't budge even if he was surrounded by cannons._  
  
_"Matsuoka, it's over. "_  
  
_"Nii-san! I'm so sorry...nii-san!"_  
  
_"Tell your men to lower their guns, Mikoshiba!"_  
  
_"Let us take out that bitch, captain. Just say the word!"_  
  
_A couple of them moved closer and Rin automatically pressed the barrel harder against Momotarou's head, his finger trembling on the trigger._  
  
_"Fuckers, stop! Nii-saaaan!"_  
  
_"One more step and I swear I'll hand you your brother's brains, Mikoshiba!"_  
  
_Seijuurou raised his hand, signaling everyone to pull back. That deranged flame inside Rin's bloody eyes was a warning the redhead wasn't kidding. This time he was on the verge of losing control._  
  
_"Everyone, do as he says. Lower your damn pieces!"_  
  
_Exchanging worrying glances, the gangsters reluctantly put away their guns. All but one ; Sousuke's arm remained petrified, his revolver locked on Haruka's face._  
  
_"You...you filthy scum..."_  
  
_"Drop your gun, Sousuke!"_  
  
_Rin's desperate cry echoed in the electrified air. Alas, Sousuke seemed too far gone, psychotic emotions lurking behind his quivering lips._  
  
_"It's been you all along...just you...bursting into our lives, stealing everything away..."_  
  
_The peculiar tranquility spread on Haruka's face was almost bloodcurdling. Face to face with the barrel of Sousuke's gun, the raven-haired ace didn't even flinch. He just stood there, taking in the accusations while everyone's breaths hitched in their throats._  
  
_"Sousuke!! Drop the fucking gun!!!"_  
  
_He slowly turned his gaze towards the shaking redhead. Hot tears were streaming down his cheeks and his whole body was convulsing under the strain of his outburst. Sousuke couldn't remember the last time he had seen him like this; ready to blow everything away for another man's heart. And that man wasn't him. Perhaps it hadn't been him for a long time. How foolishly he had accused Nanase of stealing away something he, himself, had ceased having? He had been on this stage for so long, but the play had abruptly come to an end, and during the last act, he had been revealed as the joker._

_"Come, Yamazaki. Let it go now..."_  
  
_Seijuurou calmly placed his hand on the gun. Lowering his head, Sousuke let his arms fall limp by his sides. Eliciting the breaths they were withholding, everyone turned their focus completely on Rin now. The redhead wet his lips nervously and pointed towards Uozumi's car._  
  
_"You'll let us both go. I'll release your brother once we're off. That's the deal."_  
  
_"You know it is pointless, Matsuoka."_  
  
_"I repeat, that's the deal."_  
  
_With a deadly look shadowing his face, Seijuurou motioned at Uozumi to throw his car keys to Haruka. The grumpy gangster started complaining, but his captain's stern glance was enough to make him comply. Haruka grabbed them and hobbled to the driver's seat, the trouble and pain his leg was causing him being now more visible. Rin started walking backwards towards the car, dragging the helpless, younger Mikoshiba with him._  
  
_"This won't get you anywhere, Matsuoka. We will eventually catch you and neither you, nor your brunet slut will have a happy ending."_  
  
_"You'll have to find us first."_  
  
_The engine started with a groan and the tires left a cloud of dust behind them, as the car vanished through the streets. They shoved Momotarou out two blocks later. Following Seijuurou's orders, Samezuka didn't hunt them down that night. It had been a rowdy encounter and the cops could show their plump faces any given minute. However, he instructed Sousuke to remain in Tokyo and try to track them down, while the rest would attempt to relocate themselves to new headquarters for the time being._  
  
_That morning found Sousuke in the west parts of the modern metropolis. His phone rang and he picked it up thinking it was one of his snitches, bringing him valuable info on Iwatobi's hideouts. It was Ai instead. They had seized Gou three minutes after she had left the building. She had been carrying a small sack in one hand and a train ticket in the other.  
_   
Sousuke shoved  his hands in his pockets and gazed at the crimson sky expanding outside his window. He remembered that flaming shade of blood quite well. That night, it had been the giant spotlights of a fashionable, downtown club.  This time, it was the scorching sun, spreading its deep red sheet while setting in the horizon.  
  
That sunset was the mirror of his emotions. He was a twilight waiting to happen. During the past days, he had been restricted around his room. They didn't keep him locked, but he wasn't allowed to wander around the facility and someone would always stick with him like a leech, if he chose to exit his room. As for Gou, Sousuke was kept in the dark. They had moved her away from Seijuurou's office, he was certain about that. But his ties to her had been severed completely and any contact between them seemed impossible.  
  
He had told her they wouldn't hurt her. How wrong had he been once again.  
_  
"Where had you been that morning, Sousuke-kun?"_  
  
Her words had swirled around his mind for so many hours, that anyone else in his place would have perished whatever feeble grasp of reality they had. Not him though. He had a duty; to set things straight again. He would do that for her. He owed it to both of them. _  
_   
There was a double knock on the door . A pause followed and then a third, duller knock broke the silence. _  
  
_ "Come in."  
  
The wooden door creaked open and Nitori soundlessly sneaked in. His body was shuddering lightly, yet a strange sense of determination was colouring his face. As if he had just stolen a cookie from an open jar and managed to get away with it.  
  
"Did anyone follow you?"  
  
"No, senpai."  
  
"Good. Have you brought me what I asked you?"  
  
The silver head nodded and handed him a carefully wrapped cloth. Sousuke untied the knot and, soon, found himself staring at a pair of brass knuckles and a loaded revolver. He slid his fingers through the brass knuckles and curled them, reveling in the metal's sensation against his skin.  
  
"Have you seen Gou?"  
  
Ai nodded again and this time his eyes glazed with tears.  
  
"And? How is she?"  
  
The young man shook his head a few times and when he couldn't hold back anymore, he broke down whimpering.  
  
"Gou-san isn't well, senpai...They keep her in an outpost, close to the old warehouse. Momo-kun and I aren't allowed anywhere near her. I think they hit her, because I've heard loud bangs one night. Sometimes, they also...they take...turns in...oh God..."  
  
Sousuke's jaw muscles contracted as he momentarily shut his eyes. A moment of silence passed, when only Ai's muffled sobs could be heard. Sousuke turned around and placed his hands on the shorter man's shoulders reassuringly.  
  
"You said before they guard her in shifts. Is that correct?"  
  
"Yes...They usually wear hoods and have their faces covered so she won't be able to identify her abusers, when the captain returns."  
  
"Tonight, who's assigned to the shift before the last patrol?"  
  
"Nakagawa-senpai."  
  
"Ok. Now, Ai, listen to me carefully. This is what I need you to do."  
  
The silver-head man swept his tears with the back of his hand and leaned closer, absorbing every word his senpai was confiding to him like a sponge.  
  
It was just past midnight, when Nakagawa Shouta finished his steamy bath in the selfmade tub he had put together in the joint bathroom. He had always been good in constructing things with his hands. Perhaps he would let the young Matsuoka have a taste of exactly how good those hands could be later that night. He stretched his legs and his smile broadened, as the happy thoughts of a naked Gou riding him like a pony, flowed within his mind.  
  
He still had the same smug smile when he opened his door, after an unexpected knock stirred him out of his obscene reverie. The last thing he remembered, before his world blackened out, was a huge fist flying his way, straight out of Gou's imaginary bosom. _  
_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One chapter to go, it should be up by the weekend. Thanks everyone for reading, reviews are appreciated. Happy Holidays to all.


	6. "...and crimson was the blood."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks everyone for reading so far. This is the final chapter, but there's also an epilogue following. (nijiirodays I've included some notes for you at the end).

  
  
6  
_...and crimson was the blood.  
_

  
  
**Night**  
  
A hair-raising sound creased the stillness, as rusty bars, older than time itself, begrudgingly creaked open. A Stygian figure marched in and the world cartwheeled into darkness. The wan light shed by the electric lantern outside the cell sketched out the shadow on the splotched walls. It was looming closer now, imposing and dreadful, amplifying its size and menace with every booming step. With the crumbs of strength she had left, she dragged herself away. The onyx shade towered over her, an enormous smudge born and forged in nightmares. Her back was flattened on the cold, cement wall. Within her mind, she was screaming.  
  
"Gou!...Gou it's me!"  
  
Her ruby eyes focused just as he lowered his hood and rolled down the charcoal balaclava covering half his face. How could she miss that sapphire glow, the same sparkling stuff of which fairy tales were made?  
  
"Sousuke-kun?..."  
  
Frozen fingertips patted his cheekbones and jaw in disbelief. After all the endless days enduring in the dark, Gou had to make sure it wasn't just her unleashed imagination again, playing one of its dirty tricks and rubbing its dark sarcasm on her face. But when the man before her didn't vanish in thin air, and the heat evaporating from his skin touched her arctic heart, she allowed herself the one luxury she had tenaciously disregard all along. To dissolve into tears.  
  
Sousuke carefully gathered her bedraggled body in his embrace and she instantly wrapped her arms around his neck. They had yearned for each other's touch way too long. A rain of feathery kisses saturated his face, as Gou struggled with every particle of her being to consume every last drop of his warmth. To taste the man and thank the savior. To prove he's real. He lowered himself beside her, physically and mentally brought down to his knees for her alone. And as she kept exploring his face with the avidity of a lost child, his feelings finally urged him into motion and his mouth seized her lips. They kissed again and again, as their suffering and torture, their passion and anger, everything poured out in a welter that had been sheathed and suppressed for a week. As he sucked and teased her lips, he could sample her salty tears of pained relief. The dirt of her soiled skin, betraying her ordeal. And her love, oh her love, manifesting itself with every gasp for air.  
  
Gou trailed her breath across his jawline and buried her face in the manly scent of his neck.  
  
"Thank God, I'm so glad you're fine."  
  
A strand of memory scissored Sousuke in half. He was fine. She wasn't.  
  
Gou sensed the baleful vibe surging his stiff body and pulled back. Her hand came to rest on his cheek and she sighed away the bitterness. She peered into his obscured face, those features that were stony and uncharted, those eyes that glinted steely and bleached. His austere expression didn't lean into her comfort. There was a sadist hidden beneath those sea-green pools, ready to punish every rascal that caused her pain, starting with his own self. She could eavesdrop the sadist's lament behind the steel, poorly cloaked away for years.  
  
"Don't do that to yourself. We're gonna be ok."  
  
He gently brushed her hand away. Not even her soothing voice could penetrate the callous scales his rage had slowly molded through his guilt's brimstone.  
  
"Are you thirsty? Hungry? I've brought you something to eat."  
  
"Just water, please."  
  
He took a flask out of his coat's lining and, as Gou eagerly gulped down the elixir of life, his eyes strayed to a crumbled plastic bottle, forgotten on the begrimed floor near used condoms. One sniff around its nozzle was enough to confirm the harrowing truth; drugs.  
  
"Bastards..."  
  
Only a pack of cowards would use sedatives to wrap up their crimes. Crimes that were awakening all over Gou's bruised body. From her shredded floral dress to the cigarette burns on her arms, every jagged scar was unmasking an unfathomable scene of horror. Sousuke took off his coat and swathed her shoulders with it. Whether he was offering its warmth or sealing the sight his heart wouldn't bear, he couldn't honestly tell. Gou poured the remaining water on her face. Its cool rush streamed down her sully cheeks and soaked her knotty hair, a refreshing droplet in that ocean of slime she had been thrown to drown. Oh how she longed for a bath to scrub off the memories of that decay!  
  
"Sousuke-kun, you need to go back. If they notice you're here..."  
  
"Don't worry, for the time being they think I'm Nakagawa. I paid him a little visit earlier and now he's just a sleeping beauty, bound hand and foot below his blankets. Mind you, I was lucky we were about the same size and these clothes fit."  
  
"What if he wakes up?"  
  
"Even if he does, the tape on his mouth will keep him quiet. Listen, Gou..." he caressed her chin, tilting her face upwards to meet his determined gaze "...we're getting out of here tonight. Together."  
  
Hope flitted in her eyes in an erratic rhythm. A twinkling star plastered on the murky nightsky that epitomized whatever she had brooked.  
  
"H-How?"  
  
"Remember, I told you before, there's an hour's gap between the last patrol and the first one with the new dawn. During that time, only the front gates are guarded. I've already arranged everything with Nitori, a car will be waiting for us at the dirt road that circles the facility away from the gates. All we have to do is stay here for a little longer, pretending I'm watching over you, until the last ones of them withdraw to their holes."  
  
"Ai-chan...can he be trusted?"  
  
"Honestly, that boy? He'll probably slit his own throat out of guilt if you don't escape soon."  
  
Gou needed to hear no more. She surrendered herself to the lavishness of his broad chest, like a tortured castaway that had just spotted the outline of a ship in the vast horizon. She would have time to count her wounds later. They would heal them together.  
  
"Tell me...tell me you're not scared."  
  
"Scared?" Gou muffled her tearful humming with a low snicker "Those vermins can't scare a Matsuoka, you should know better."  
  
Sousuke rested his forehead against hers. Her hot breath came in soft pants and their closeness lead it into his own system. He had missed this union, this wholeness that rippled through him every time he was around a Matsuoka. It was a unique feeling of belonging and with Gou, unlike with Rin, it was also the self-tranquilizing sentiment of finally anchoring in a harbor. Forever.  
  
Unbeknownst to him, his thick fingers were drafting ellipses on the small of her back, lightly pressing her onto his body. Her smooth skin was tickling the nerves of his lips and releasing a low grunt he didn't know he was withholding, he let his teeth barely scrape along her cheek. How her cherry taste could outlast all this crud and still galvanize his masculine senses, was beyond comprehension. Yet it was happening and his mouth tugged hers once again, this time driven not by nostalgia and relief, but by a desire deep and carnal. Gou responded, her mind still in mild, narcotic haze. They sensually braided their tongues together and Sousuke lapped up any confusing emotions lingering past her lips. He angled his neck and steadily delved deeper, earning himself Gou's surprised moans. Latent hormones sparked his insides and he started claiming the velvet of her flesh with stronger zeal, a sinful act in a place so damned, in a time so improper. His hands traveled their own path, unknowingly stroking the crimson marks on her bare thighs and as his mouth demanded her bottom lip, sucking and coating it with his passion's dribble, he leaned in, pushing her down with the weight of his body.  
  
"Oooww...Sousuke...wait..."  
  
In the echo of her pain, Sousuke froze. Her plea paralyzed his body like an unseen, mind numbing force and mortifying thoughts  flew discordantly through his mind. He jerked his hand out of the cleft between her thighs and stared at it in shock and shame. What kind of impure demon had possessed him and was sneering at him now out of the corner of his eyes?  
  
"I'm sorry, I didn't..."  
  
"It's ok, everything is so overwhelming. It's just the bruises that still hurt."  
  
Of course they still hurt. He inwardly cursed himself again and again for allowing his emotions to overpower him.  
  
"I'm sorry."  
  
"We'll get through it."  
  
Gou steadied her forehead with her palms. The world around her was blurring again, the familiar, light dizziness creeping into her head. Sousuke's face stiffened, as he landed back to reality. He was well acquainted with those methods, having used various substances in the past to neutralize security guards.  
  
"It's the drugs. It will take at least two more hours before their effects completely wear off. How do you feel?"  
  
"Sleepy, exhausted. A wreck."  
  
"Get some rest then. Either way we have to wait till the last patrol leaves."  
  
Gou painfully smiled.  
  
"I fear that, if I close my eyes, you'll disappear. I know it's dumb and childish, but..."  
  
"I'll be here." He nuzzled her temple with his lips, kissing her worries away. "I'll wake you up when the car is ready."  
  
Despite his objections, Gou returned the coat to him, insisting that his act of concern would look gravely suspicious in case another Samezuka member decided to check on them. Besides, the dusty rugs she was curled upon were all she needed. Shrouded in the shadows of his disguise, he intently watched her from the wonky desk outside the cell. His eyes followed the uneven rising and falling of her chest, as sleep lured her to its kingdom. Momentarily, a peculiar feeling of being spied alerted his acute senses, but when nothing except the wind wailed through the gnarled branches of trees, he disregarded it as a figment of his agitated imagination. Besides, if someone from his Samezuka brothers had indeed come, he would have probably mistaken him for being asleep.  
  
Minutes sluggishly ticked away in loneliness. Silence had spread its sheer web throughout the abandoned facility. But inside Sousuke's mind, the cogwheels were spinning relentlessly, raising a cloud of chimeras. He could envision his life months ahead, far away from that shoddy hole. He could see Gou clung to his elbow, gracefully walking beside him in a brand new, airy dress with embroidered cherry blossom petals. Amidst the light, he could even make out Rin, cordially patting his back and flashing his trademark, shark grin. Letting bygones be bygones in the name of their old friendship.  
  
Such were the images quelling his mind, when he heard them.  
  
The wind carried their rustle as they were crawling along the drains. The moon unveiled their shadows as they were closing in. One...two...three, maybe even four of them. Sousuke could tell by the men's efforts to keep quiet, that these night visitors didn't just wish to check on him. His Samezuka brothers had come to satisfy a different type of cravings. His eyes drifted to Gou's asleep shade and his heart throbbed within his chest. They were too many for him to just shrug them off without revealing himself. His only chance was to ambush them and take them down at any cost. A commotion would follow, without doubt, but it was almost time for them to meet up with Nitori. If Luck scaled to their benefit, he and Gou would probably reach the car unscathed.  
  
Sousuke slid his fingers through his brass knuckles and clenched his fist. Their footsteps thrummed against the rotten stairs of the outpost. At any second, they would turn around the corner. Any given second.  
  
“Rin, wait, it's a trap!”  
  
He emerged from the blackness and lunged at them like a predator. High adrenaline pulsated through his veins, condemning him deaf to the cries around him. His iron punch landed on soft flesh and he could feel the bones getting pulverized under his brute force. The man before him tumbled backwards, ending up a tangle of limbs with one of his companions. But Sousuke couldn't see them. He was fighting against the shadows that had sneaked their way like bloodthirsty hyenas in the dead of night, just to feed on the woman he loved.  
  
“Shit, the guard was never asleep.”  
  
One of those monsters was hooked around his legs, impounding him to the spot, while another one seized his arm to block his attacks. He floundered and roared like a bear, but their combined weight was shoving him back to the dimly lit office. That was when he grabbed his revolver. The steel was cold against his inflamed skin and its barrel gleamed under the moonlight, as it locked on the bloodstained shadow that was rising before him.  
  
“Mako, he has a gun!”  
  
Those names. Those voices. The fog distorting his reality began to dissipate around him, leaving nothing but ashes in its aftermath. Because, suddenly, that crimson shadow shaped into a painfully familiar face and shrilled in front of him to claim its name. The cruel truth petrified his hand around the trigger.  
  
_"Rin?"_  
  
His mind spoke to him. And he listened. Eyes widened at the sight of his lost love, time slackened its frenzied pace. His arm relaxed and an elated voice inside him hollered with all its might.  
  
_"It's..."_  
  
Excruciating pain sprayed through his chest. The dagger had just ripped his flesh apart like a sanguine fruit. Sousuke's eyes dilated and his shaking hand grabbed a fistful of his rival's leather jacket. His fingertips stroked lovingly the edges of that scarlet hair, those silky strands that spilled over Sousuke's pillow countless lazy mornings. Trapped in the arms of his enemies, Sousuke struggled to breathe underneath his balaclava, to beg the redhead to recognize his friend behind those pools of teal.  
  
_"It's me."_  
  
But only incoherent sounds and blood leaked past his lips. And Rin, frothing at the mouth with rage, twisted the knife deeper in the wound.  
  
A single, forsaken memory flashed before Sousuke's eyes. A summer scene hibernating somewhere in their common childhood. The creamy beach was sparkling under the lukewarm rays of sun, and the rhythmic pounding of waves against the rocks soothed the innermost corners of the soul. Seagulls were gliding across the immense sky-blue and their happy giggles coursed through the balmy air. Rin's father was still alive, and together with his wife were strolling along the idyllic seashore, Mrs Matsuoka holding her beautiful straw hat with the red ribbon that flowed in the breeze of June. Little Gou was gathering seashells in her tiny palms, a delicate cherub as she was, with her rosy cheeks and her playful pigtails bouncing around her burgundy head. Rin was basking in the sun next to him, droplets of seawater trickling down his back and hot sand drying between his toes.  
  
That bright day, in that beautiful scenery, the boy that Sousuke once was, completely mesmerized by the Matsuokas, had chosen the path his life would tread upon.  
  
_"Oi, Rin. You're so lucky to have such a perfect family."_  
  
The redhead had chuckled, his young chest swelling with pride and childish innocence.  
  
_"I know. I'd kill for them."_  
  
Back then, Rin's shark smile was nothing but a ghost of the infamous shark grin he would develop later, establishing himself as a total magnet since his early teenhood. Only some of his sharp teeth had just perished for good, crushed by the unyielding metal of the brass knuckles and the brunet's raw ferocity. For years, Rin would sport the black holes on his once dazzling grin, as proud marks of the direst chapter in his life.  
  
But Sousuke wouldn't see that.  
  
In fact, he wouldn't see Hazuki Nagisa running towards the dim outpost to prevent his comrades from committing the inevitable, after chancing upon Nitori Aiichirou just outside the old factory. He wouldn't hear Gou searching for him during the flashes of clarity deep within her drugged state. He wouldn't see Ai eventually driving her and Rin far away from that cursed junkyard and into their treasured freedom. He would never witness Seijuurou Mikoshiba's seething wrath falling on those Samezuka dregs, upon returning from Tokyo and finding the ruins of his golden empire. Nor he would ever learn about the chaotic revenge that Rin took for the honour of his sister, one murky night he set everything his old gang held dear on fire. And when nine months later a baby boy with sparkling sapphire eyes would greet the world with its first bawling, Sousuke wouldn't be there to cradle it.  
  
Because all Sousuke ever saw were those piercing eyes of red , boring into him full of blistering rage. Those eyes that were so similar to the female ones he had worshiped during that blissful captivity, and yet quite different. That was the last image that flickered like a candle flame before him. As those crimson eyes rummaged through his soul.  
  
As that steel blade pierced though his heart.

  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> UPDATE: The story has now a short epilogue, click next chapter to read it.
> 
> Well this is it guys, I'm afraid the final curtain just fell for this story . As most of you had predicted, Sousuke's fate had been sealed from the very first paragraph of this story, and there was no turning back without changing the entire plot idea. I do feel though that I left some of you hanging there sad, so to somehow make up for this, I'm preparing some new stories. For those of you that enjoy RinHaru and SouGou , I have a period - pre WW2 -drama on the works featuring both ships (and others as well). For those that like SouRinGou (yes triangle and threesome), my story "A Gift of Sin" will get a second (and final), more dramatic, chapter. I think I'm gonna be damned for what I'm about to write there, but anyway. Apart those fics, I have some fantasy AU stories coming, featuring both m/f and m/m pairings.
> 
> Regardless, I want to thank you all for reading, leaving kudos or comments on this story. It meant a lot to me and , despite its tragic end, I hope you enjoyed the ride!
> 
> To nijiirodays: Thanks for your comments and support! As I said above I have a story that includes RinGou on equal dose with SouGou (not like Those Piercing Eyes of Red), however if A Gift of Sin is not your cup of tea and you want something more action packed, yes there is high chance of writing something solely RinGou, I never hid my love for them. If you want, contact me through my email adoring.darkness@gmail.com in case there's something specific you want to see.


	7. Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Originally I wasn't going to include this short epilogue, since the whole focus of the story was that fateful night with Sousuke and the emphasis on its twist, however after receiving some feedback on the 6th and last chapter, I decided to add a little glimpse into Rin's and Gou's lives after everything that happened.

**EPILOGUE  
**

* * *

**6 years later**  
  
Sunlight filtered through emerald leaves, flowing through the gaps like shimmering water. Rows of trees cast their filigree shadows, sketching strips of lace on the pebbled pathways. Marbles and stones gleamed under the meridian halo, the soft, neatly mowed grass surrounding them, rustling in the gentle breeze. The whistling humming of cicadas, basking in summer's sweetness, completed the soothing sentiment of tranquility that settled in the scenery. It was a beautiful, ordinary Sunday, yet another day Gou was returning from her visit in the peaceful cemetery.  
  
At first, the ride had not been easy.  
  
For many miserable weeks , following Sousuke's death, she would wake up in the dead of night calling his name in vain. The nightmares would continue chasing her past her sleep, viciously demanding pieces of her sanity during the day. And as her belly was gradually swelling, she kept dangerously flirting with depression. Twice her new patrons, the members of the Iwatobi, had to rush her to hospital with severe abdomen pains. Twice she had almost lost the baby, the only legacy Sousuke would leave in this world.

But then her angel was born. And the light sauntered in, igniting the shadowy colours of her life back into vivid hues of scarlet and aquamarine. Suddenly, she had a new reason to stay strong for, to stop enduring the days as if she was still in captivity, and instead transform them. Moving to Kyoto had helped her build up a fresh start. Not that her ties with the mafia were severed, the scent of the underworld was running relentless in her veins after all. But the traces of Samezuka had been erased from her life. To their misfortune, police hadn't arrested any of them for what they had put her through. Perhaps a different future would have awaited them, better than the Fate they had eventually met in her brother's hands.  
  
Her key slipped into the lock and the happy buzzing of a TV cartoon filled her ears. Her face lit up at the sight of Rin and a dark-haired boy, squatted on her beige carpet amidst scattered toys, right in the middle of her small but bright lounge.  
  
"Still conquering castles you two?"  
  
"Hey mom! Do you like my army? Uncle Rin helped me choose the best warriors!"  
  
Rin gazed up at her and smiled. Visiting Sousuke's grave always calmed her soul and softened her features. Unlike him, who, even after all those years, still struggled to drag his feet up to the cold tombstone.  
  
Being the murderer of his best friend had driven him to the threshold of suicide several nights. Becoming an uncle of his sister's son was what had brought him back every single time. His connections to Iwatobi had been proven useful and Sousuke's death had been tucked away as a common settling of scores between gangs. But Rin had maintained the scars and the black gaps where his shark teeth once had been, to painfully remind himself of his guilty past. For a while, he had found solace in the images of the Samezuka houses blazed up in wild flames. The memories from the night he had set their properties on fire, the dreadful payback for the anguish they had caused on Gou, were still a balm for his heart. He had stood in the shadows smiling, as the ashes floated around like snowflakes and the air was smelling of burning flesh.  
  
Of course that resulted in him being a fugitive on his way to Hell ever since. But it was worth it.  
  
Rin stood up and slid behind her. His arms circled her waist and his chin rested on top of her head. She relaxed in his embrace and they both watched young Toraichi, as he built a plastic pyramid of warriors and sorcerers.  
  
"He didn't cause you any trouble, did he?"  
  
Rin pondered for a minute.  
  
"Well, he is very opinionated. I wonder where he got that from."  
  
Gou snorted with a hint of pride.  
  
"Not all his traits are mine you know."  
  
"You're right, he can also kill you with his cold, serious glare when he's angry, much like his father. Just see him when he loses in janken."  
  
Gou pinched one of his hands crossed on her stomach.  
  
"Good, he's one hell of a combination then."  
  
Rin laughed and placed a soft kiss on her temple, before freeing her from his grasp.  
  
"You're not staying for dinner?"  
  
"Nah, I'm off. I have to stop at Makoto's, I left my cellphone there last night and then I have some business to settle downtown."  
  
Gou narrowed her eyes on him, full of suspicion.  
  
"You argued with Haru-kun again, didn't you?"  
  
At the sound of Haruka's name, the redhead breathed out and sulked like a spoiled child.  
  
"I just told him that I'd rather eat my laces than his grilled mackerel third day in a row, and next thing I knew I was picking up my trainers from the garbage outside our flat."  
  
"Oh, you two will never grow up."  
  
"Hey, don't say that. Besides," he leaned down, his husky voice teasing the shell of her ear "... that only means I can finally spend the night here..."  
  
She shoved him away playfully and shook her head.  
  
"You'll never change, will you?"  
  
"You wouldn't want me to."  
  
Rin offered her a cheeky wink, before shutting the door behind him. Gou pursed her lips thoughtfully, while fragments of his bold presence still lingered in the air. Her son was still playing careless on the carpet and she knelt down beside him.  
  
"Did you have fun with uncle Rin?"  
  
"We had ice cream and played battles. But my men beat his soldiers."  
  
Toraichi gloated happily as he showed off his army. Gou's glance swayed above the various plastic and rubber warriors, until it fell on an impressive figurine in military uniform, propped up further away from the pile of the rest toys.  
  
"And who is he?"  
  
"This is dad."  
  
Gou's voice faltered.  
  
"D-dad?"  
  
"Mhm. He is standing there to guard his friends, because they are not as strong as he is."  
  
"Did uncle Rin tell you that?"  
  
The little boy nodded.  
  
"Uncle Rin told me many stories about dad. He also says I should be like dad when I grow up, because I look a lot like him."  
  
Gou tenderly brushed away her son's dark bangs, to gaze into the glinting sapphire of his eyes, that light green painting the sea's surface under the brightest sun.  
  
"That, you do."  
  
"But I don't want to be like dad."  
  
Gou frowned. Yet Toraichi continued rummaging through his warriors nonchalantly.  
  
"Why you don't want?"  
  
For a mere second, the boy's eyes twinkled in a different, darker shade.  
  
"Because when I grow up, I want to be like uncle Rin."  
  
He opened his little palm, revealing a red soldier he was holding tightly all along. Mimicking the loud noise of a rocket that's about to land, he made the toy forcefully dive into the pile of warriors, kicking and scattering their unfortunate bodies all around the carpet, sending a chilling shiver down his mother's spine.

  
**The End**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok now we are done for good lol Thanks again for reading, stay tuned for the fics I promised at the end of the previous chapter.


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